M 



An Historical Tragedy in 
Fivt Acts 



GOiTHARD DEUTSCH 




GiassTS3so-T 

CORfRIGHT DEPOSrft 



ISRAEL BRUNA 



An Historical Tragedy 
In Five Acts 



GOTTHARD DEUTSCH 




BOSTON 
RICHARD G. BADGER 

1908 



Copyright, 1908, by Gotthard Deutsch 

All Rights Reserved ^^ CL "-^ 5 \m 



UJBBARY of 0@NGRESS 
) wo OoDies Receivdei 

AUG 29j1^0S 
c;oFY a. 



77ie Gotham Press, Boiion 



CAST OF CHARACTERS 



Werner von Perinstein, burgomaster of 
Bruenn. 

First Councillor. 

Second Councillor. 

Pethahiah, an elder of the Jews. 

Raphael, an elder of the Jews. 

Rabbi Israel Bruna. 

Fraidlin, the rabbi's wife. 

Jekel, the rabbi's servant. 

Shifrah, maid in the rabbi's house. 

Meinhard von Perinstein, son of the Burgo- 
master, a knight. 

Jekuthiel, son of Pethahiah, called Konrad, 
a convert to Christianity. 

John Capistrano, a Franciscan Friar. 

ScHOLASTiCA, a nun, a former Jewess. 

An executioner, councillors, judges, priests, 
Jews, and people. 

The place is Bruenn. Time 1454. 



ACT I 

Scene I. City Hall. 

Burgomaster Werner von Pertnstein, several 
councillors, two guards standing at the door; later 
Pet ha hi ah. 

Burgomaster. — Men of the Council, I have 
called you together at this early hour on very im- 
portant business. This morning a message was 
received from the King by special courier. His 
Majesty wishes us to give a hearty reception to 
brother Capistrano, who, the King says, has been 
gifted with miraculous powers, and who, the King 
says, is an instrument in the hands of Providence, 
to stamp out this heresy which has already disgraced 
his Majesty's dominions too long. 

First Councillor. — We certainly ought to do 
our gracious Lord's wishes, all the more so because 
we will be honoring a great Saint whose presence 
will be a blessing to our city. 

Second Councillor. — A blessing which will 
result in a bloody civil war. 

First Coun. — Not if we stand united and have 
the support of the Saint's prayers. 

Second Coun. — His prayer has not kept the 
Hussites from burning the city hall of Neustadt, 
when the council refused to expel that Italian 
trouble maker. 

(Shouts.) — Bar the gates against the Welcher! 



6- ISRAEL BRUNA 

Burg. — Peace, gentlemen! He comes with the 
King's safe conduct, and we cannot refuse him ad- 
mittance without incurring the ill-will of his 
Majesty, who has once before expressed his dislike 
of the city's attitude in an internal complication. 

Second Coun. — His Majesty is in the hands of 
fanatics who din malicious lies into his ears. 

First Coun. — This means that they report truly 
when they say that in the council of this city men 
are sitting who still nourish in their hearts a venera- 
tion for that arch-heretic, John Huss, whom the 
holy Council, with the approval of King Sigismund, 
of blessed memory, ordered to be burned at the 
stake as an enemy of our holy religion and as a 
rebel against the sacred person of our King. 

Second Coun. — John Huss was a saintly man. 
I was in Constance as a page to my Lord of Rokit- 
zan, and I saw Huss smile as he was led out to the 
stake, and I saw him kneel down in prayer, praying 
that the Lord Would forgive those who had sen- 
tenced him to die. I would like to see how that 
Italian fiend would act, were he placed at the 
stake, for that is where he ought to go. 

(Shouts.) — Burn him! Stone him! Huss was a 
Saint! 

(Shouts from the other side). — He was a rebel 
and an infidel. Through him we have been living 
in a state of war for forty years. 

(Shouts from the first side). — Because you have 
been persecuting God's chosen ones. 

Burgomaster. — Peace, gentlemen! It will not 
do for us to quarrel on a question which the masters 
of holy lore have not been able to settle. The 



ISRAEL BRUNA 7 

question which confronts us is what we shall do 
with regard to the King's letter. 

Second Coun. — Give that monk three days to 
stay here, and in the mean time the city guards shall 
watch him, lest he do mischief. 

First Coun. — Let the Burgomaster, the Council, 
the heads of the guilds, and the clergy with the 
school children meet him at the city boundary line. 
Let the bells be tolled from the time he enters the 
gates until he reaches the cathedral where a 
" Te Deum " shall be chanted in praise of the Lord 
for sending this Saint to our gates. 

(Shouts.)— Cathedral ? To the whipping post 
with the murderer and incendiary! 

(Shouts from the other side). — To the whipping 
post with you rebels and heretics ! 

Burg. — Peace, gentlemen, do not forget where 
you are. How do you expect to control a riotous 
mob when you, the guardians of the city's peace, 
are rioting yourselves. The Italian comes with a 
safe-conduct under the King's seal and handwriting. 
Any stranger who shows such letters is under the 
protection of the city, and if we allow harm to befall 
him we are rebels against his Majesty. 

Second Coun. — And if he make himself un- 
worthy of our hospitable kindness by inciting riots 
in our midst ? 

Burg. — That is just the point. He comes with 
the King's safe conduct, and is our guest, but when 
he sets the citizens, one against the other, he has 
forfeited our good will and we shall send him 
beyond the city limits under the protection of the 
city guards. But it is our duty to protect him 
against malefactors while he is in our midst. 



8 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Second Coun. — Let him keep the peace and he 
shall not be molested. 

First Coun. — It is his mission to lead the lost 
sheep to the fold from which they have strayed. 

Burg. — When a strange physician comes to our 
city he is allowed to do his business. If, however, 
I find that he is selling poisonous pills I shall 
order him to be thrown into prison though he have 
a safe-conduct from the Roman Emperor and a 
diploma from the Pope himself. Yes, I would 
do it, as sure as my name is Werner von Perinstein. 
First Coun. — But it is against the poisoners of 
the soul that he is waging war. 

Second Coun. — We need no Welcher to take care 
of our souls. He has plenty of profligates and 
assassins at home to care for. 

(Shouts.) — Send him back to Welcherland! 
Send him back to Italy! 

Burg. — Indeed, for the care of our souls we 
have our own priest. We, Burgomaster and Coun- 
cil, are the guardians of the city's peace and every- 
body shall enjoy this peace as long as he allows 
others to do so. What does it concern the city 
if one march behind a flag with a chalice painted 
on it ? No more than when the piper's guild 
marches behind St. Cecelia's banner, which does not 
always inspire as decent conduct as is found 
among those who follow the chalice. 

First Coun. — And — so Turks and pagans and 
even Jew^s shall have their freedom just as we have 
it.? 

Burg. — Most certainly; and I am glad you 
mentioned it. We have no Turks or pagans in our 



ISRAEL BRUNA 9 

midst, but the Jews, whom your Saint particularly 
delights in assailing, shall be protected, for they are 
in the King's peace, and the city is responsible for 
them; and woe unto the man, whether he wear 
robe or cassock, who shall dare to trouble them. 

First Coun. — There may be others who wear 
neither a robe nor a cassock, but a knight's armor, 
and who are, moreover, highly connected, who 
may wish brother John success in his arraignment 
of the Jews and their usury. It might be an easy 
way for them to settle their debts. 

Burg, (rising angrily in his chair). — Will you 
explain yourself more clearly ? 

First Coun.— Your Worship need not get 
excited. An inquiry amongst your nearest of kin 
might reveal the fact that there may be some who 
wish that Brother John should have success in 
making the Jews disgorge some of their ill-gotten 
gain. 

Burg, (angrjly striking the table). — If you wish 
to say that I shall allow pillaging in order that my 
boy may get rid of his debts to the Jews, I want you to 
say it here, in unmistakably clear words, and if you 
do so I shall pronounce you in this council chamber 
a malicious slanderer, unless you can prove your 
statement; outside of this room, the sword of a 
gentleman shall vindicate my honor. 

(Shouts.) — Backbiter! Hypocrite! Pharisee!! 

First Coun. — I most sincerely apologize to 
your Worship, and if you consider my words coolly, 
you will find that I have not said what you imply. 
I merely said that there may be some, and if you 
wish, your own son amongst them, who will not 



10 ISRAEL BRUNA 

mind seeing the Jewish chests disgorge. Such 
things have happened before, and if you ask Master 
Dietrich, our city clerk, he will show you that they 
happened in this very city one hundred years ago. 

Burg, {sitting down calmly). — And just because 
it has happened before it shall not happen again. 
I know the story well enough. It was during the 
terrible visitation of the black death, when the 
rabble was unrestrained, and very likely some 
questionable saints and unscrupulous demagogues 
{murmur of applause) were their leaders. The 
result was that the rabble celebrated its orgies and 
grewa terrorto the respectable community, while the 
demagogues enriched themselves with the plunder, 
and the city was heavily mulcted by the King. 
When the Jews came back they charged higher 
interest than ever before. 

First Coun. {looking out of the window). — Your 
Worship will have an opportunity to show your good 
will to these innocent victims of demagogues, for 
I see that old vampire, Pethahiah, the Jew-Bishop, 
entering the city hall. 

A Coun. — This would be a fine opportunity to 
squeeze some of his shekels out of him by screwing 
his thumbs just a little bit. {Laughter.) 

Second Coun. — You come one hundred years 
too late, brother. 

Burg. — I repeat that order shall be preserved 
as long as I wield the mace of this city. 

Scene II 

{Enter Pethahiah, bowing to all sides.) 
Pethahiah. — Your Worship, most exalted head 



ISRAEL BRUNA ii 

of this noble city, and you, Councillors, whose wis- 
dom and self-sacrificing care have preserved lavv^ 
and order under the most trying conditions. Let 
one who is unworthy to kiss the dust of your shoes 
be bold enough 

Burg. — Be less courteous, Jew, and keep to the 
point. 

Second Coun. — You keep one half of your 
speech and let us Christians keep one half of the 
interest which you charge us. 

First Coun. — That speech is too good. I want 
all of it. I would rather have it than all his money. 
Try me, Uncle Pethahiah. Just make an offer. 

Peth. — The noble gentlemen are so good to a 
poor Jew. 

First Coun. — Poor Jew! Who ever heard of 
such a combination. 

Peth. — Most worshipful and honorable gentle- 
men of the Council. If you would condescend to 
Hsten to what a man has to say, to whom the honor, 
the welfare, and the glory of this beautiful city, ruled 
over by a statesman, the like of whom 

Burg. — Quick, Jew, do not waste our time. 

Peth. — Far be it from me to be guilty of such an 
offense against the interests not only of this city, but 
also of the whole land, not only at this time, but 
also in the future. I have heard that you will 
have a noble and great guest within your gates, a 
man who, amongst you, is a Saint. 

Second Coun. — Don't be such a hypocrite, 
Pethahiah; say that you hate him as much as you 
hate the sight of a cross. 

Peth. — Far be it from me to hate one whom 



12 ISRAEL BRUNA 

my glorious rulers honor and revere. I have al- 
ways been obedient to the King and to his servants, 
for that is the law of my religion, and I would never 
countenance any movement which is directed 
against the sacred authority of his glorious Majesty, 
our most gracious King Ladislaus, may his glory 
increase forever. 

Second Coun. — Confess it, Pethahiah, did 
you not lend money to George of Podiebrad, who 
seeks to place himself on our King's throne ? 

Peth. — Who said so ? If this be so, may the 
earth swallow me up, as it swallowed Korah, 
Dathan, and Abiram ! May the leprosy of Naaman 
and Gehazi befall me. May my arms be lame as 
the arms of Jeroboam, when he desired to seize the 
prophet. May fire from heaven fall down upon me, 
such as Elijah called down upon the captain and his 
band of fifty. May my own flesh and blood serve 
idols 

Second Coun. — This time you speak the truth, 
because your son, who has become a Christian, is 
certainly an idol-worshiper in your eyes. 

Burg. — Gentlemen, we shall never get through 
if we open the sluices of his loquacity. Pethahiah, 
state at once what you wish, or you shall be sent out 
of this hall. 

Peth. — I shall say it at once. {To Burgomas- 
ter, who gives beadle a sign.) No, no, your 
Worship, may it please you to tarry a moment, 
I am saying it already. I wish to give the city the 
sum of one hundred Schock Groschen, as a tribute 
of respect for the guest, whom the King has 
honored so greatly in order that the city shall be 



ISRAEL BRUNA 13 

able to do him that honor which he so richly de- 
serves, and he shall see that, while I am only a Jew, 
and not a rich one 

First Coun. — Do you wish to'go to the poor- 
house ? If you turn a Christian^you shall have the 
best room in the place to-morrow. 

Peth. — Honorable gentlemen, you laugh, but 
the times are very hard. Were it not that I know 
that the monk is so honored by the King 

Burg. — You want to buy his favor ? If you are 
afraid that he will set the mob against you, be quiet, 
and tell your people that I, Werner von Perinstein, 
will not allow any violence against anybody. 

Peth. — Your Worship is wise as King Solomon, 
and good as Obadiah, the steward of King Ahab, 
but I shall send the one hundred shock to the holy 
man myself to show him that Pethahiah 

Second Coun. — Podiebrad will have to pay 
more interest next time for this loss. 

Peth. — A rebel! I lend money to a rebel ? not 
for five hundred per cent. You will see when you 
become a rebel, and you try. 

First Coun. — You are a shrewd old fellow. 

Peth. — My business is always with good honest 
people and faithful servants of the King. At 
your service, most worshipful gentlemen. May 
you live and prosper. As the sages say, " Misse 
Meshunah."* 



* A Hebrew oath. 



ACT II 

Scene I. The Rabbi's study. Pethahiah, 
Rabbi. 

Pethahiah. — I repeat it to you, the thing will 
have a bad ending. Our young men were seen in 
the procession with the Hussites, the rebels against 
the King's majesty. Such stories are apt to be 
exaggerated. I have heard rumors already that 
our enemies had informed the King that we had 
assisted the rebels with money. This would mean 
disaster. 

Rabbi (smiling). — Hardly to the young people 
who love to see a gay pageant and to hear music, for 
no one would accuse them of having money to lend. 

Peth. — It is always the respectable and the 
loyal who have to make atonement for the levity of 
the penniless rabble. 

Rabbi. — If you are free from guilt you can take 
an oath. Our laws, confirmed by kings and em- 
perors for centuries, give us the right to prove our 
innocence of any charge by swearing on the Torah. 

Peth. {uneasily). — Swear by the Torah ? I — 
would rather lose a fortune. 

Rabbi. — But if you have to, in order to save 
your life ? To assist the King's enemies with money 
is high treason. 

Peth. — This is what I said when the young peo- 
ple went to witness the procession. The King will 
be provoked to anger, and these boys forget the 



ISRAEL BRUNA 15 

warning of Solomon: " Fear God, my son, and the 
King." 

Rabbi. — There is another word of wisdom. 
It reads: "Woe unto the land whose King is a lad." 
If we try to please the King too much, we shall 
provoke his uncle. Emperor Frederick, who 
strongly disapproves of the persecution of people 
for religious motives, and he is our friend, as he has 
proven repeatedly, and finally, neither he nor the 
King are really the rulers. The man who is the 
king in truth, although he is not on the throne, is 
George Podiebrad, the leader of the Hussites. 

Peth. — He is an arch-rebel. Curse to those who 
aid him. We Jews must be loyal. Fear the Lord 
and the King. 

Rabbi. — Don't get so excited in protesting your 
loyalty. You waste it in the wrong place, and if 
they want your money, they won't ask many ques- 
tions about your politics. 

Peth. — But those boys, with their temerity, 
conjure up the fate. " Don't open the mouth of the 
evil one." They ought to be excommunicated. 

Rabbi. — We have no more right to punish the 
innocent than to let the wicked go unpunished. 
And what power is there in our discipline ? You 
ought to know best .? Did you not obtain from 
the emperor a privilege that no rabbi should have 
the right to pronounce a ban against you .? 

Peth. — Because Rabbi Shalom of Neustadt, 
your own teacher, persecuted me. 

Rabbi. — My teacher, of blessed memory, was a 
man who feared God and no man. You know 
what our sages predict for him who slanders the 
righteous in their graves. 



i6 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Peth. (frightened). — I did not, God forbid! 
May he pray for me in the world of truth! But he 
allowed himself to be deceived by my rivals in 
business, to pronounce that excommunication, and 
I had no other resource except imploring the aid 
of the Emperor. 

Rabbi. — You see how little such a ban means. 
Why should I destroy its force by pronouncing it 
upon young people for innocent curiosity. 

Peth. — But you might preach to them, and 
threaten them with excommunication if they per- 
sist in showing sympathy with the rebels. 

Rabbi. — Can I reproach them for exhibiting a 
noble trait of character ? The Hussites are fighting 
for Hberty of conscience. We cannot fight for it, 
but we must hope for victory. 

Peth. — Liberty of conscience! A bad word! 
It covers all sorts of license and it is responsible 
for the fact that our young people are looking with 
gluttonous eyes upon the tournaments, and are be- 
ginning to despise the customs of the fathers. 
Indeed, young Shealtiel was caught practising 
fencing at Juergen Trautenberger's house. 

Rabbi. — And what of it ? 

Peth. — And what of it, you say ? Should we 
wait until he eats and drinks at their feasts and 
worships their God ? . . . 

Rabbi. — Before you condemn him.? Most cer- 
tainly yes. I saw God-fearing and learned young 
men in Italy practice fencing, and I saw good 
mothers in Israel play the guitar. 

Peth. — I feared these pernicious doctrines, and 
warned the men of our community when they called 



ISRAEL BRUNA 17 

you here. But they said that Rabbi Shalom would 
not have married his daughter to one who was of 
doubtful piety. 

Rabbi. — It was good that you held him in such 
high esteem, or else you might have been accused 
of bearing him a grudge for having excommunicated 
you; and some go even so far as to say that you 
approached the governor to have him veto my 
appointment. 

Peth. — They are my enemies because I have 
won the confidence of the nobles through upright 
dealing and have succeeded in laying by a small 
amount for an evil day, and more so, because I insist 
that the young shall not leave the ways of the 
fathers; therefore I beseech you again. Rabbi, let 
their sins not go unpunished. Don't spare the rod! 

Rabbi. — I do not wish to wound you, Pethahiah, 
but you know from experience with your own flesh 
that it is not always good to use the rod. Leave it 
to me. I must answer before God and men. 

Scene II 
Enter Fraidlin {excited). 

Fraidlin. — Woe! Woe unto us! 

Rabbi. — What troubles thee, my beloved ? 

Fraid. — I tremble. I fear an evil day. 

Rabbi. — Calm thyself, dear. We are in God's 
hands. 

Peth. — Did they break into any house ? 

Rabbi. — Your loyalty does not seem to inspire 
you with confidence. {To Fraid.) But tell us. 

Fraid. — Many strange folks have come into the 



1 8 ISRAEL BRUNA 

town, all heavily armed and fierce looking. The 
streets are swarming with peasants, from miles 
around, all wish to hear their great Saint, who, they 
say, is working many miracles. They are telHng 
stories that an image of the mother of their God, in 
the convent outside of the gates, has been shedding 
tears, and one knight, who always has his beaver 
lowered, is haranguing the multitude, telling them 
that King Ladislaus' life is in danger from plots 
made by his uncle, the Emperor, who has been 
bought by the Jews; and from the Hussites, who 
wish to make all Christians Jews. 

Peth. (trembling). — Did I not foresee it ? 

Rabbi. — Calm yourself. Is this news to you ? 
Don't we hear it every spring ? Don*t we pray 
every night, " Lord, how many are my enemies r " 

Peth. — But this time it is serious. Rabbi, 
Rabbi, rebuke the young rebels. Denounce them 
to the King's castellan. 

(Rabbi shakes his head.) 

Fraid. — To me it looks like those troublous days 
at home, when I was yet a child. You remember 
when they burned thirty-four in the market square. 

Rabbi. — " Even though I walk through the Val- 
ley of the Shadow of Death, I fear no evil." 

Scene III 
(Jekel enters hastily.) 

Jekel. — Rabbi, it is high time that the Messiah 
should come; indeed, I believe he is on his way. 

Rabbi. — If you will foretell it without condi- 
tions, I shall fain beHeve it. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 19 

Peth.— Why ? 

Rabbi. — Because after the destruction of the 
holy temple, the Talmud teaches, the gift of pro- 
phecy was taken from the wise and given to the 
simple ? 

Jekel. — When the new temple shall be built, 
do you think they will make me a prophet ? 

Peth. — What do you want such an uncertain 
job for ? I shall make you my housekeeper and 
give you two rooms and one florin in gold every 
month. 

Jekel. — One florin in gold ? Do you mean it r 

Peth. — Indeed I do. I shall make a written 
contract. Call Daniel, the scribe. 

Rabbi. — Do not mock at the poor fellow, Petha- 
hiah. {To Jekel.) Tell us why thou believest 
that the Messiah is on his way. 

Jekel. — Because the gentiles must have seen 
him. A lot of boys just asked me if I had seen him, 
and when I said no, they jostled me and one of them 
struck me across the face with his whip, saying I 
must have surely seen the Messiah's donkey, and 
that if the Messiah should not be in town to-night, 
we Jews, all of us, would have a bad time, and they 
mentioned you, Pethahiah, particularly. 

Peth. — What did they say ? 

Jekel. — Hans, the harness maker, said he had 
promised his sweetheart a silk belt with a silver 
buckle, and he knev/ he would find one at your 
house just exactly to suit her. 

Peth. — The harnessmaker, you say? I shall 
have him arrested for his debt. But Rabbi, the 
times are bad. 



20 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Rabbi. — Indeed; may God protect us! 
Peth. — Shall we not protect ourselves ? Let 
Jekel call all the people to the synagogue early 
to-night so that everybody shall be in his house by 
nightfall, and let all the doors be locked and 
bolted. 

Rabbi. — This is the night which is guarded by 
the Almighty. My door shall remain open so 
that it shall not be a mere mockery when I say, 
*' Let him who is hungry come and feast." What 
dost thou think, my beloved ? 

Fraid. — I shall do as thou sayest. But why 
should I conceal it .? I am greatly disturbed. I 
have lived through such an experience before in 
my father's house when a horde of drunken fiends 
burst into our room; and had it not been for a 
priest, who covered us with his body, holding their 
sacred image before him, I could not tell the story 
now. 

Rabbi. — Thou hast told me thy experience; I 
shall tell you mine. I was hungry and shivering 
when I arrived in Padua. The Adige was swollen 
from the spring floods and I had to wait for three 
days before a boatman would take me over, and so 
I arrived in Padua on Passover eve. People had 
left the synagogue and the streets were deserted. 
I stood aghast, not knowing where to turn. I 
could not speak Italian, and even my Hebrew they 
would hardly understand. Then I beheld a house 
next to the synagogue, the window^ up, a venerable- 
looking man sitting at the head of the table, and as 
the doors were wide open I entered, saying the 
words of the Haggadah, " He who is hungry may 



ISRAEL BRUNA 21 

come and feast." I was received without a word 
of questioning, and my God had brought me to the 
house of Rabbi Malkiel, my sainted teacher, to 
whom I owe so much. Wouldst thou turn away 
a footsore w^anderer, were he to come to-night ? 

Fraid. — I shall welcome him and praise God 
for having granted me the joy of doing His will. 

Rabbi. — God bless thee. God bless thee! I 
knew it. And you, Pethahiah, cheer up, the Holy 
Spirit does not rest upon a man who is of downcast 
heart. Cheer up the poor by rich gifts, as you have 
been blessed. 

Jekel. — And don't forget your promise if the 
Messiah should come to-night. He will come, 
won't he. Rabbi ? 

Rabbi. — If it is in God's time, he will. 

Scene IV 

Seder at the Rabbi's house. Rabbi, Rabbi's 
wife, Jekel, Shifrah, and two students. 

Rabbi {reading). — " This year servants, next 
year free men." Oh, that our longings may be 
realized! 

Jekel. — When we shall be free men in the land 
of our fathers, will I be permitted to pick berries 
in the woods and to fish at the lake like the Chris- 
tians ? 

Rabbi. — Yes, and all other things which are the 
privilege of people who are their own masters. 

Jekel. — Well, it is about time. Yesterday, while 
I was fishing and a nice trout was just ready to 
bite, some boys kicked me into the water, saying that 



22 ISRAEL BRUNA 

I should wash off the old Adam. I told them that I 
had none, and for the holydays I would get a new 
waistcoat. 

Rabbi. — Poor fool, whose whole idea of freedom 
is to pick berries like our forefathers, who would 
submit to any oppression so long as they had 
meat and fish. 

Shifrah. — When the Messiah shall come, will 
the Jews be allowed to marry just like the Chris- 
tians without any permit from the governor ? 

Rabbi. — This is thine idea of freedom ! Foolish 
creature! The women of Israel in Egypt, for 
whose sake our forefathers were delivered from 
bondage, had no thought of advantages for them- 
selves. They were content to suffer, as long as they 
could inspire their children with the beHef in God's 
promise that one day the whole nation would be 
free, and not their nation alone, but all the world 
would break the shackles of oppression. 

{A knock is heard at the door. All are startled.) 

Rabbi {calmly). — Is the door locked ? Have 
you so little confidence in divine protection, which 
is mightier than lock and bar ? 

Shifrah. — Forgive, Rabbi. I bolted the door 
because Golda, the servant in Pethahiah's house, 
told me that everybody did so. 

Rabbi. — Those who plot evil against us vrill not 
be detained by a barred door. Go and open! 

Shifrah. — I, Rabbi . . . I am a Woman. 

Jekel. — Take thy torch with thee and nobody 
will carry thee away. 

Rabbi. — Why not go thyself, Jekel ? God 
guards the simple. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 23 

Jekel. — It may be the city guards who want me 
because I fished this morning. 

Rabbi. — Who told thee ? May it not be the 
prophet Elijah ? And he who gives him the first 
welcome will receive the key to King Solomon's 
treasure and take with him as much as he can carry. 
(Jekel runs.) 

Rabbi. — Israel, my people! They would not 
raise an arm to fight for liberty, but they would 
risk their lives for the sake of a piece of jewelry. 

Jekel (returns trembling). — There are two 
armed knights outside who ask your permission to 
enter. 

Rabbi. — If they ask permission when they can 
command, let them enter. 

Fraid. — They may be highwaymen. 

Shifrah. — They are armed, O God! 

Rabbi. — This is the night which is guarded 
against evil, and have We not said, " Every one who 
is in want, let him come and feast with us ? " I shall 
make good my Word. (Starts for the door.) 

Jekel (running). — Perhaps it is Elijah in dis- 
guise and he carries Solomon's key. I will go. 

Scene V 
Meinhard and Jekuthiel enter. 

" Blessed are they who are gathered to do the 
willof our God." 

Rabbi. — Your God ? 

Jekuthiel. — Our God and the God of our 
fathers. We implore your kindness for this night, 
when we crave to take part in the sacred feast 
which has been so long denied to us. 



24 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Rabbi. — Fraidlin, my beloved, thy wish has now 
been fulfilled. The wanderers to whom thou hast 
promised to open the door have come. 

Fraid. {agitated). — Will the strangers not 
begin the Hagadah* again ? We shall wait until 
they can join us. 

Jek. — We shall join you at once. I am not very 
learned and my friend is still less acquainted with 
Jewish law and practice. Both of us are of Ma- 
ranno descent. My friend is from the north of 
Spain, and I from Toledo. In that large city I had 
better opportunities than he had to acquire some 
knowledge of Judaism, although both my father and 
mother had been raised as Christians. From 
my childhood on it was my desire to profess openly 
the God of Israel, and my wish was near fulfillment 
when I came to Padua, where the great rabbi, 

Malkiel 

Rabbi. — Malkiel, my sainted teacher! 
Jekuth. — You knew him ? Then, the bless- 
ing of that saint, who in parting told me 
that the Lord would guide my steps, has become 
true. He said it to me when in despair I had 
almost resolved to take my own life. I had lost 
faith in my destiny, for the Jews of Padua, those 
who ought to have assisted me in returning to the 
faith of my fathers, informed against me, to the 
Inquisition. Oh, when I remember the terrible 

moment 

Fraid. — Take a cup of wine and speak the 
benediction. 

Rabbi. — Let him finish his story; it will give him 
relief, and to us it will be an inspiring lesson. 
* Ritual for Passover Eve. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 25 

Jekel. — The Christian hoys never kicked you 
into the water when you went fishing in the mill- 
pond, Sir Knight. 

Jekuth. — They would not dare now. (Em- 
barrassed.) What a peculiar question! There 
was indeed a mill pond. . . . How do you come 
to ask me this question ? 

Rabbi (smiling). — Leave him alone. He is 
harmless. Rather let us hear the end of your story. 

Jekuth. — You may remember, since you were 
in Venice yourself, that the repubhc was on bad 
terms with the Pope ten years ago, and the Pope 
would eagerly seek an opportunity to start trouble 
with the Senate of Venice, on the convenient ground 
that they allowed apostates from Christianity, as 
they call us, to profess Judaism; and as my only 
salvation I joined the imperial army. Once in the 
army they could not so easily seize me, and as I had 
learned to use my sword, and had won the prize 
at a tournament under the Emperor's eyes, the 
Emperor, who is a lover of Israel 

Rabbi. — Praised be the Lord who has given him 
of his power. 

Jekuth. (continuing). — The Emperor took 
personal interest in me. He told me jestingly that 
I should beware that he might not find anything 
Jewish in me. And, indeed, I had to conceal 
my religion again, trusting in God that He would 
lead me in the Emperor's service to Poland, where so 
many of our oppressed brethren have found a haven 
of refuge, and can profess the God of our fathers. 

Rabbi (to Meinhard). — And you, my friend, are 
you also of those who seek the Lord from hidden 
places ? 



26 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Meinhard. — Not speak much your language. 

Rabbi. — Hable Vd. Espanol que ya le com- 
prendo. 

Jekuth. {quickly). — My friend is from the Basque 
provinces in the North of Spain, as I told you, and 
speaks little Spanish. 

Fraid. — And how could you understand each 
other. 

Jekuth. — We in the imperial army speak all 
languages a little, and so he confided to me that he 
was a Jew, by repeating the v/ords which our fathers 
teach us to use when we meet our brethren. Say 
them! 

Mein. — " I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, 
the God of Heaven." 

Rabbi. — You have come to us at a time fraught 
with grave dangers. May He, who gathers in the 
lost sheep protect the faltering. 

(They continue the services.) " Praised be the 
Almighty who has guarded his promise to Israel — 

{Knocks are heard at the door.) 

Voice {jrom without). — For God's sake, Fraid- 
lin, open the door. Milkah desires you." 

Fraid. — Rabbi, will you permit me to leave this 
feast ? You know Milkah, the wife of Laemmlin, 
the wayfaring man whom the soldiers killed for the 
sake of the few pennies which he possessed, or 
perhaps for mere sport and in order to satisfy their 
brutal instincts. His wife, who came near faring 
badly at their hands, was saved by the Captain and 
handed to some of our people who passed by, re- 
turning from the fair of Leipsic. She is about to 
become a mother and desires my presence. 



ISRAEL BRUNA ^ 27 

Rabbi. — The saving of a human life stands 
higher in the sight of God than any reHgious duty. 
If the poor creature feels relieved by your presence, 
go; though I shall miss you sadly at this feast. 

Jekuth. — May I accompany you, Wife of the 
Rabbi ? The streets are unsafe at night and par- 
ticularly at this season. 

Fraid. — Thank yo.u, knight. The distance is 
short and he who trusts in the Lord fears no evil. 

Rabbi. — We are taught in the law that one who 
does God's Work need fear no evil. 

Jekuth. — It does not behoove us to argue on the 
ways of God, but I saw my own father stabbed to 
death on a night like this, when they surprised us 
in the cellar of our house at the Seder service. I 
saw my aged grandmother dragged from the cellar 
to the street by her white hair, and then stoned to 
death by an infuriated mob. 

Shifrah. — Why should God, who is just, allow 
such barbarity .? 

Jekuth. — True, dear lass, but this is no ques- 
tion for ignorant people such as we to answer. 
God's ways are just, but they are hard to under- 
stand. I saw the mutilated body of that poor 
Laemmlin, who had the Tefillin on his head, while 
his skull was crushed by blows with clubs. Un- 
fortunately, I came too late to save him, but, thank 
the Lord, I was able to save his wife from a fate 
worse than death. 

Rabbi. — The Lord has indeed chosen you to 
bind up those that are of broken heart, and I am 
glad that He brought such a worthy guest to the 
threshold of my home. But to-night it is un- 
necessary that you trouble yourself. Evildoers are 



28 ISRAEL BRUNA 

not in our midst, and against those who come from 
without, even your valiant arm would avail nothing. 

Jekuth. — The Lord gave to David the power to 
defeat Goliath, and to Samson the strength to slay a 
thousand Philistines. But even were it unnecessary 
let me follow her at a distance that I may have 
a share in the work of charity. 

Fraid. — You wished to participate in the feast, 
Sir Knight, which has been denied you so long. 
Why trouble yourself? The rabbi opened the 
door to you in spite of our fear, because he felt that 
the Almighty will protect us. Should he not in- 
spire even his own household ? 

Rabbi. — Let him have his will, my beloved. 
Why should I not trust him, whom Rabbi Malkiel 
thought worthy of his confidence ? Go in peace, 
my friend, you will return soon. 

Jekuth. — This would mean to betray my 
caUing. If a woman braves the dangers of this 
agitated city, I shall not be found wanting in my 
duty. I shall guard the house which she enters, 
until her work is done and she can return. 

{He turns towards the door, following Fraidlin, 
who impatiently hurries out.) 

Rabbi. — You forget your bundle. 

Jekuth. — It would burden me. My friend 
will take care of it should we not return in time. 
There would be no harm to me even if it were 
forgotten. Our craft carries little that is valuable, 
and that little is easily replaced when it is lost. 

Rabbi. — Your going out and your coming in 
be in peace. 

{Seder service continues.) 



ISRAEL BRUNA 29 

" May the Lord grant us to celebrate other 
feasts in joy and peace! " 

{Wild noises outside. Service stops. All agi- 
tated.) 

Mein. {rising). — They me kill when me find. 

Rabbi. — A knight and fear! 

Mein. — Not fear when fight, but not fight when 
not must. And bad people make you dead when 
find me. 

{Takes his bundle and hurries through the hack 
door. Noise growing.) 

Jekel. — Woe unto me! And I bought me a 
new cap only yesterday! 

Shifrah. — Thou fool, to think of thy cap, 
when thy mistress may be in the hands of the fiends. 

Rabbi. — Do not open thy mouth to evil. Let 
us continue! 

" To lead us from darkness and servitude unto 
light and freedom — " 

Scene VI 
Enter Capistrano followed by a disorderly multitude 

Capistrano. — Where is the child ? Where is 
Andrew, the weaver's boy ? You must know, 
for he was seen right in front of your house only 
day before yesterday. It was the last time he was 
seen alive. One of your accursed race gave him a 
toy and lured him into this house. From the cellar 
of this house his screams were heard distinctly, 
about midnight, last night. Give him to me right 
now, or it \Till be bad for you. Where is the child ? 

Rabbi (calmly). — Seek it. My house is open. 



30 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — You dare add insult to your crime ? 
He whom you have crucified will find you out and 
bring you to justice. 

Rabbi. — I know only one God of justice who 
may aflBict His servants, but will, in the end, let the 
righteous triumph over his enemies. 

Capis. — Do not triumph too soon! {To his 
retinue.) Search the house from the cellar to the 
garret. Look into every corner. See whether the 
floor of the cellar does not show marks of recent 
digging. Knock at the walls to see if they are not 
hollow. We must find the little martyr. The 
Holy Virgin showed him to me covered with 
wounds, last night in a vision. Search diligently! 

{The people search in all directions. Only one 
monk and two armed guards remain. "Jekel and a 
student make a move as if to mingle with the search- 
ing party. Capistrano raises his hand menac- 
ingly.) 

Capis. — Nobody dare to move. We know your 
ruses, you generation of vipers. We know how 
you have rewarded the kindness of the Holy Father, 
who, but a few years ago, moved by Christian com- 
passion, recommended to the princes to treat you 
more leniently. But you have badly rewarded his 
clemency, you stiffnecked people, whose ancestors 
have so severely tried God's longsuffering that He 
cast you away from His countenance forever. Your 
only God is the dirty Mammon. By your usury 
you have driven the good Christian people, your 
hosts and benefactors, to desperation. 

{The searchers pass over the stage, stop occa- 
sionally and murmur applause.) 



ISRAEL BRUNA 31 

With fiendish delight have you tortured the 
blessed body of our Lord, bribing weak people to 
sell you a consecrated host. Our God is not your 
accursed demon of vengeance, but He will not allow 
His holy name to be defiled. He has found you 
out, proving your guilt by miracles. He has also 
laid bare your murderous plots and deeds, when 
you, sons of Belial, mocked at the sacrifice of our 
Saviour by torturing innocent children. He will 
bare your atrocious crime now. 

(Two women return with frantic yells, holding the 
body of a little boy in their hands. People return 
from all sides and others come in from the streets 
■joining in the demonstration.) 

Capis. {to Rabbi). — Now, you blind guide of a 
blind generation, has your God of justice found you 
out ? {To the people.) Did the Holy Virgin tell 
me the truth ? She has shown her unworthy 
servant too often tokens of her grace. Yes, 
{pointing to the corpse) just so had she shown me 
the poor martyr in the vision. Look here, how the 
tiny feet and hands are pierced!! Look here how 
his side has been stabbed! Look at these bleeding 
marks on his forehead, caused by thorns! Thus 
they mock at our Lord and Saviour, who died for 
their sins, if they only had accepted him. Yes! 
I can see the bright halo, adorned with the little 
stars, around His glorious martyr's head. . . . 

{Shouts from multitude.) — I can see it! Bright 
as the sunlight! Five stars! How his eyes shine! 

Capis. — I can feel that the numbness of my arm 
has gone, which so troubled me during this terrible 
winter in this cold climate — 



32 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Multitude. — My eyesight is returning. The 
gout is gone from my arm. My stiff finger is 
whole again. My cough troubles me no more. 
Glorious saint! {They kneel before the body and kiss 
its feet.) Let us tear them to pieces. (Jekel 
turns to flee, Shifrah faints.) Let us burn this 
cave of Satan ! Into the fire with that sorcerer ! 

Capis. — Calm yourselves, my friends. Your 
Christian zeal is laudable and your indignation 
just, but our holy mother, the Church, is lenient, and 
above all, just, even to sinners. Calm yourselves, 
or the accursed heretics in your midst will point to 
your act as a justification of their own acts of high- 
way robbery and sacrilege. 

(Shouts.) — Shall these murderers escape punish- 
ment ? They will bribe the King's judges. They 
have brought the Emperor to their side by their 
ill-gotten Mammon! 

Capis. — Calm yourselves. No guilty person 
shall escape. I shall report to His Holiness that a 
new martyr has arisen, and you shall have a Saint 
of your own blood to plead your cause in heaven. 

(Shouts.) — A new Saint! Saint Andrew, pray 
for us ! 

Capis. (to guards). — Take this man in irons to 
theFranciscanconvent, and the others to the King's 
Justice, that he shall issue their warrants. Do not 
take them to the city court. (Smiling.) There 
they may not be properly treated. 

(Shouts.) — Rebels and heretics, Jews and worse 
they are, these Aldermen. We shall tear them to 
pieces if they interfere with the course of justice. 

Capis. — Go home, my children. We shall see 



ISRAEL BRUNA 33 

that ill-gotten Mammon shall not prosper, but no 
one shall accuse us of taking even an enemy's 
substance unjustly. {To guards.) Off with this 
murderer. 

Rabbi {who has remained calm during the whole 
time). — I am ready, and my God alone knows 
why He has sent this tribulation upon me. But if 
thou hast the slightest feeling within thee, thou wilt 
allow me to bid my wife farewell. She has gone 
on an errand of charity. 

Capis. — Off with him. We shall find her and 
every one who is connected with this crime. 

Rabbi. — I shall speak to her in your language, 
in your presence. 

Capis. — Off with him! Do not tarry! {pointing 
to corpse). See the imploring look in the eyes of 
the little saint. You shall have justice. Off with 
that gang of murderers. 



ACT III 

The Rabbi's Library. {Beth Hamidrash) 

Scene I 

Congregational meeting in progress. Seven 
Councillors. Clerk writing. 

Raphael. — No, and a thousand times no! We 
must not stand idle by the blood of our neighbor! 
This case is not the cause of a mere neighbor; it is 
the cause of our beloved leader; it is our common 
cause, for it is a plot against all Israel. 

Peth. — It is useless to block the path of Provi- 
dence. The trouble is a divine visitation. I 
have warned Rabbi Israel but recently that this 
levity of participating in the feasts of the Gentiles, 
this fraternizing with those that are hateful to the 
King, will bring upon us divine punishment. 
Scripture and Talmud warn us against joining 
rebels. You ask the Rabbi himself. The Talmud 
says: *' God made Israel swear not to rebel against 
their rulers and to submit to tyranny until He 
shall deliver them, as He has promised." 

Raphael. — And if they had laid the plot against 
you, would you advise the same course ? 

Peth. — I would take upon myself whatever 
God has decreed. 

Raphael. — And are you sure that this terrible 
plot is not merely a prelude to an attack on our 
whole community, to be followed by an expulsion 



ISRAEL BRUNA 35 

and spoliation, as has been done within our mem- 
ory by the King's father in Austria. 

Peth. — The monk is our enemy, but he would 
not go to the extreme. He told me that the guilt}^ 
ones shall suffer, but that no one else would be 
molested. 

Raphael. — Why not say it plainly, Pethahiah ? 
You bribed the monk, and obtained his promise 
that you will be protected. 

Peth. — Who said so ? 

Raphael. — You are witness against yourself. 
Or what else were you doing at the monk's cell ? 
Did you speak to him about the Rabbi and the 
other prisoners ? Did you offer any ransom ? 

Peth. — You need not teach me how to deal with 
priests, nobles, and rulers. I have done business 
with them for nearly forty years. 

Raphael. — Then it is so much the more your 
duty to give assistance in this case. 

Peth. — It is easy for you to make appropria- 
tions wh^ch others shall pay. How long ago is ^it, 
that we had to pay a special tribute for war pur- 
poses ? Then the city demanded one fourth of the 
cost of the new fortifications. The Bishop bled us 
for the cost of the restoration of the cathedral. 
Who is always assessed for the greater part of these 
sums ? Where is this to end ? To give large sums 
now would merely make them believe that we 
have immense treasures: it vv^ould be encouraging 
them to rob us. The great Rabbi Meir, of Rothen- 
burg, died in prison, and would not allow any ran- 
som to be paid for him, because he foresaw that 
such a payment Vvould merely encourage further 



36 ISRAEL BRUNA 

exactions. If our rabbi is such a saint he will do 
likewise. 

Scene II 

Fraidlin enters. 

Fraid. — For mercy's sake, help. Help quickly, 
for it will soon be too late. 

Voices. — How do you come here .? 

Fraid. — Do not ask. I shall tell you every- 
thing later. Now is no time to tell stories. Help 
quickly, or it will be too late. 

Raphael. — We respect your grief, Wife of the 
Rabbi, or else we would not allow a woman to come 
into the council of men. 

Fraid. — Nor would I have come were it not 
that every hour of delay may mean death. But 
now act before it is too late. 

Raphael. — But your story might help us to 
find means of rendering aid to the victims. 

Fraid. — Be it so! I was called out of the 
house during the Seder service to attend Milkah, 
the wife of the wayfaring man, who was killed by 
the soldiers. But it seems to have been a ruse 
that I cannot fully understand. As I turned the 
corner of the bath house, where the entrance to the 
adjoining poorhouse is, I was stopped by two 
armed guards, who held their halberds across the 
walk. What they said I do not know; the fright 
benumbed all my senses. Nor do I know what 
followed, until at the door of the Ursuline convent, 
a knight who had followed me from the door of my 
house — 



ISRAEL BRUNA 37 

Peth. — A knight had followed you ? How 
did he happen to be there ? 

Fraid. — You had better not question me, 
Pethahiah, but be sure that I have nothing to 
conceal. 

Raphael. — Do not mind him. He believes 
that he has bought his own safety from the monk; 
but I would rather be a poor man in these days, 
in whose home nobody expects to find any plunder, 
than to have coffers full of jewels and bonds. 

Peth. — Who says that I possess any wealth ? 
My jealous ill-wishers will not be able to change the 
mind of our rulers who know my upright dealings. 
Raphael. — Nobody has informed against you, 
but you, trusting in your wealth, insult everybody. 
Let Fraidlin continue. 

Fraid. — At the gate of the monastery, when a 
nun held a lantern before my face, I heard the 
knight say the guards should leave me there and 
that he would be responsible for this order. I 
cannot describe my condition, although a young 
and pretty nun spoke very kindly to me. I did not 
sleep a minute all night and did not know what it 
was all about until this morning a bailiff of the 
King's court came, and announced to me that I 
should be free if I would tell what I knew about the 
plot to murder Andrew, the weaver's son. When 
I told him that I had never seen the boy, and did 
not even know of his existence, he told me of the 
terrible things that had happened. The excite- 
ment, added to the exhaustion, the sleepless night, 
and the lack of food were too much for me. I fell 
in a dead faint. How long it lasted I do not know; 



38 ISRAEL BRUNA 

the nun wanted me to take a cup of milk, and when 
I refused on account of the Passover law, w^hich 
she seemed to know w^ell, she spoke to the bailiff, 
who told me to go home but not to leave the house 
so that I should always be ready for a hearing 
before the judge, and that no one should see me, 
except by permission of the captain, who is guarding 
our quarter. 

Raphael. — Your wonderful salvation may be a 
help to our cause. Do you know that bailiff w ho 
cross-examined you ? 

Fraid. — I do not. 

Raphael. — Do you remember the name of the 
nun who was so kind to you ? 

Fraid. — She told me her name. It was Sister 
Scholastica and she said I should regard her as a 
friend. 

Raphael. — That might be some help. I know 
the prioress of the monastery, as I sold there quills 
and parchment. I have at home a spool of goldspun 
which the nuns like for their sacred vestments. 
If I should take it to the prioress, with the request 
that she let me hand it to Sister Scholastica as a 
tribute of gratitude, I might be able to talk to her. 

Fraid. — Cease your usual backdoor methods. 
The matter is urgent and the people are excited. 
I trembled as I heard the threats when I walked 
from the monastery to this place. We must have 
great sums. Send messengers all over Germany 
and Italy. Tell them that Rabbi Israel is in dan- 
ger. Great sums! 

Peth. — We must not encourage blackmail. 
They would always demand more. I shall see the 



ISRAEL BRUNA 39 

prioress, who pawned her tiara with me, and if 
she tells me who the bailiff is, I can speak to him, 
I know them all. 

Fraid. — But it vv^ill be too late. If you mean 
well, offer security for a large sum, and in the mean- 
time, messengers shall solicit contributions from 
our brethren all over Europe. 

Peth. — If it is a divine decree nobody will be 
able to avert it. And I fear it is a divine decree. 
God is just. I have warned the Rabbi against his 
leniency to sinners. The Talmud says that a 
leader is held responsible for the sins of his flock. 
It was a divine warning that the Lord has denied 
to him the blessing of children. 

Raphael. — Shame and disgrace upon you, 
Pethahiah, to wound a woman's feelings in the 
bitterness of distress. 

Fraid. — Thank you, Raphael, for your good 
will, but if the Lord decreed it as a punishment for 
my husband's sins, or mine, that we should be 
denied the happiness of children, I shall thank 
Him that He spared me the severer visitation of 
profligate children. 

{Voices.) — Right! He deserved it! 
Fraid. — Far be it from me to requite injury by 
injury. But you, Pethahiah, wished to know who 
the knight was who followed me from my house 
to the place where the guards arrested me. You 
shall know. He had come to our house with 
another knight, claiming that they were Marannos 
and wished to celebrate the feast. My husband, in 
the goodness of his heart, welcomed them at our 
table in spite of my hints that he should be careful. 



40 ISRAEL BRUNA 

It was this knight who brought the child's body to 
our house. I suspected him all the time, and in 
my sleepless night I collected my thoughts. I am 
positive that I savv^ him, when I was a child, at my 
father's house. He is Jekuthiel, your profligate son, 
who has forsaken the God of his fathers. 

{Voices.) — Woe unto us, for if it be he, he v/ill not 
desist until he has ruined us. 

Peth. {agitated and stammering). — You do not 
know. You merely wish to Wound my heart, tear- 
ing open old wounds. 

Raphael. — It is probable enough. He is 
known to have sworn revenge on you and on all 
Israel when you drove him out of the house. 

Fraid. — Whether God visits on you your sins 
or not is not for me to decide, but you should take 
heed, lest pride in your wealth deceive you. 

Peth. — I have cursed him. Why should God 
not have destroyed him ? He killed his mother and 
made me dead to the world. He was my only child. 

Fraid. — Must I, the woman, spur you to action. 
Go, go at once. See what you can do to help. It 
is the righteous who is suffering for you. If you 
help him, it will be accounted righteousness in the 
eyes of the Lord. 

Peth. — We are lost. He will know no com- 
passion. 

{The council departs.) 

Scene III 

Fraidlin, in the study taking out an old jolio and 
turning its pages. 

Fraidlin {murmuring). — Father's book that he 



ISRAEL BRUNA 41 

gave Israel on our wedding day. {Wipes her eyes. 
The sound of steps startles her. Jekuthiel stand- 
ing before her.) 

Fraid. — Do you come to enjoy the sight of the 
sufferings you have brought upon those whom you de- 
serted and whom you wish to make more miserable, 
in order to advance your selfish and petty aims ? 

Jekuthiel. — You misjudge me, good lady. I 
harbor no ill feeling against you. 

Fraid, — Do you beheve that I shall cringe before 
my enemy ? Sir Knight, I am a woman. I never 
lifted a sword. I could not hurt you if I would. 
You can make me miserable, but you cannot make 
me contemptible. 

Jekuth. — You grieve me by your suspicion. I 
shall not allow any one to do you evil, and, least of 
all, would I act against the laws of my order by in- 
sulting a woman, even a Jewess. 

Fraid. — How kind of you to respect the women, 
whose fathers, brothers, and husbands you hate 
with such bitter passion. 

Jekuth. — Again you do me wrong. I may hate 
some of your people who deserve it, but I do not 
hate your people. I may say I love them, although 
my love does not make me blind to the fact that 
their sufferings are deserved. A band of boys 
cannot with impunity mock and so provoke an 
armed troop. 

Fraid. — And when there is no provocation, you 
create it. Or do you, the son of Jewish people, 
believe that Andrew was murdered in our house, 
and thatwe perform such sacrifices annually ? Who 
provoked in this case ? 



42 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Jekuth. — You provoke by your very existence. 
A small, scattered group too v/eak to defend itself 
is a provocation by living a life apart from its 
environment. 

Fraid. — And so the only way for us to prevent 
your irritation would be to commit suicide and thus 
save you the inconvenience of killing us. This is, 
I presume, what you call the law of love. 

Jekuth. — I have not come to discuss law and 
love, Judaism and Christianity. I have come to 
offer you advice and assistance. 

Fraid. — Assistance from you ? What new game 
of deceit is this ? 

Jekuth. — You are a vfoman, and a woman 
whom I respect. You are in distress and your anger 
is pardonable, but you must not, even in this con- 
dition, attack my honor as a knight. 

Fraid. — Were I free I would say that I shall 
respect my duty towards one who is a guest in my 
house. But is my remark more impugning your 
honor, that the fact that you introduced yourself 
as a Maranno longing for the companionship of a 
Jewish feast ? 

Jekuth. — I had to do it in order to be admitted. 
And I am Maranno. Indeed, I cannot suppress an 
occasional longing for the joys of my youth. 

Fraid. — And this hospitality, so trustingly 
bestowed on you, you used to ruin your hosts! Is 
this a knight's honor .? Or did you not bring the 
child's corpse into our house ? 

Jekuth. — I did it for your benefit, you may 
take it upon my word of honor. 

Fraid. — How kind! 



ISRAEL BRUNA 43 

Jekuth. — Appearances are against me, but you 
will at least see that what I tell you is so probable 
that you will have to admit that it may be true. 
You know that Capistrano came here v/ith the 
desire of stirring up the wild passions of the mob 
against the Jews. He needs this excitement in 
order to arouse the fanaticism of the population 
against the Hussites. He did it elsewhere. You 
knew it, for you tried to protect yourselves. Do 
me the favor to say that I am right. 

Fraid. — If it soothes your pride, wounded by 
my doubts, I shall say that it is so. 

Jekuth. — Then you know also that if Capis- 
trano had chosen to fire the mob against you here 
as elsewhere, he would have attained his end. 

Fraid. — Therefore you gave him the semblance 
of a right, and to the mob a pretence of justice. 

Jekuth. — I stayed the inevitable catastrophe by 
giving the monk the opportunity of court procedure 
instead of blind mob rule, and by carrying out part 
of the plot myself I made sure that the plan vrould 
not be disturbed by zeal or malignant passion. 

Fraid. — If I understand you right, you meant to 
protect me by placing the charge against my hus- 
band. How did I deserve such kindness ? 

Jekuth. — Leave the cause alone. You have 
expressed doubt in the sincerity of my offer to 
help you. Let me set myself right by explaining 
the reason for my procedure. By carrying out one 
part of the plot, which would have been done by 
some one else in some other fashion, but with the 
same effect, I gained for myself freedom from the 
suspicion that I favor my people. I lured you 



44 ISRAEL BRUNA 

away from your home and brought you to the con- 
vent where you were safe from mob violence if the 
precautions for the preservation of order should be 
unavailing. I knew that my word would make you 
free, and you can now do whatever is in your 
power to save your husband, whose fate would have 
been the same, if not worse, had I kept out of his 
path. And now, whether I have convinced you or 
not, I am ready to assist you. 

Fraid. — Forgive me, Knight Conrad — so they 
call you, if I heard aright — forgive, if I suspected 
you, but my own liberation only confirmed me in 
my suspicion. I do not know whether 

Jekuth. — Speak out frankly. Wife of the Rabbi. 
I shall not bear you any grudge for whatever you 
may say. 

Fraid. — I believe — I am convinced — that 
you are Jekuthiel, the son of Pethahiah. 

Jekuth. — And if I were ? 

Fraid. — I would expect you last of all men to be 
sincere in your protestation of friendship. 

Jekuth. — And why ? 

Fraid. — Because your father is the only one in 
this city who bears ill will towards Rabbi Israel. 

Jekuth. — And this, you think, should be a 
reason for me to feel likewise ? 

Fraid. — To be candid. No! Unless you should 
believe to reconcile him by — 

Jekuth. {laughing). — And you actually think 
that my father would become reconciled to what 
he calls my apostasy, if I brought misery upon a 
man whom he dislikes ? 

Fraid. — I do not. For whatever Pethahiah's 



ISRAEL BRUNA 45 

faults may be, he is sincere in his religion, and no 
misery would be so severe that he would not 
rejoice in seeing it inflicted upon you. 

Jekuth. — That you think so little of my in- 
telligence as to presume that I should so misjudge 
his character, I can easily forgive, but that you 
should consider my character so mean that I should 
speculate on my father's filthy lucre by ruining an 
innocent man who never harmed me, this grieves 
me. It grieves me from you. Your face, your 
eyes, the tone of your voice and the manner in which 
you bore your misfortune would never have led 
me to seek in you such unfairness, even towards a 
deserter from your faith or towards a personal 
enemy. 

Fraid. — Forgive me. I did not mean to hurt 
you, but you must admit that your offer of as- 
sistance must appear strange to me. 

Jekuth. — You shall not be left in the dark. 
When I saw you on that evening I resolved to 
redeem you. Your kindness in the midst of the 
anxiety which the presence of strangers created; 
your fearlessness when you were called to attend 
that poor woman; that composure which you pre- 
served when they arrested you; all this worked so 
strongly on my memory that it recalled the happiest 
moments of my life. I saw you again — 

Fraid. — Did you ever see me before ^ 

Jekuth. — It is many years ago. You were a 
child with large brown eyes and such beautiful 
black curls, the pet of the whole community, and 
especially of the young men studying at the Yeshi- 
bah. You were the only bright spot in that 



46 ISRAEL BRUNA 

gloomy place. Had it not been for you I could not 
have endured it one week, but finally, the storm 
had to come. I could not stand the religious 
discipline of your father, that constant bickering 
about the most trivial affairs of life, vv^hich made 
me always think of my father, who was so conscien- 
tious in all these things, but did not mind, in the 
least, ruining a hard-working farmer or decoying 
an easy noble into his trap, nor even weaving his 
webs to catch a brother in the faith who had 
offended his vanity or had crossed his path in busi- 
ness. '' Away from this rehgion," was my de- 
termination. 

Fraid. — But the sweet Passover festival made 
you long for a Jewish home. Or v/as all this 
feigned, too ? 

Jekuth. — No, it was not. At least, not quite. 
I told you that I like to recall occasionally the 
memories of childhood. We study the practices 
of peoples in foreign lands, but we would not like 
to live among them. My desire to be at the house 
of the rabbi was inspired by different motives. 
In all these years when I was in Italy, first as 
student, then as soldier under almost all the petty 
tyrants, and finally joining Capistrano's crusaders, 
it was your picture which remained the only 
remembrance of my past, v hich I would not and 
could not blot out from my memory. Do you 
understand. Wife of the Rabbi ? 

Fraid. — I understand that your new religion 
made you forget the law adopted by it from its 
mother, " Thou shalt not covet." 

Jekuth. — Leave me alone with old and nev/ 



ISRAEL BRUNA 47 

religion. The only true religion is that dictate of 
life, love, enjoy nature's gifts. This means serving 
our Maker. 

Fraid. — And you know of no sin ? Robbing 
your neighbor, ruining his home, destroying the 
sv^eetest memories of innocent children, all this 
is no sin to you ? 

Jekuth. (laughing aloud). — Sin, old bugbear of 
vicious tyrants, allied with priestly schemers and 
supported by a stupid rabble. From your father's 
Yeshibah I was expelled because I was caught 
practising fencing on the Sabbath. They would 
have stoned me to death had they had the power; 
they would have inflicted upon me such torture as 
I V ould not allow to be inflicted on a vicious dog, 
if the state would permit them to practice their 
lav/. What is sin ? Your husband was busy in 
the VN^eek preceding your feast, w as he not ? 

Fraid. {embarrassed). — Why do you ask ? He 
alw^ays is. 

Jekuth. — What occupied him ? I suppose a 
woman showed him a knife which stuck somewhat 
loosely in the handle, and she wanted to know 
whether she should put it into boihng water before 
cementing it, or afterwards. Why ? Because to 
use it in the wrong v/ay on the Passover would be a 
mortal sin, and one who did it v/ould be punished 
here and in the hereafter. This is what you call 
sin! Sin! Sin! Using a fork or a knife with a 
loose handle! 

Fraid. {excited). — And your Christian religion, 
with these saints who plot with our apostates to 
rob and to murder } 



48 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Jekuth. {laughing). — Do not get excited over 
my Christianity, fair lady. You might be wasting 
your theology on the wrong party. I am at present 
engaged in butchering people who believe in taking 
a sip of wine at religious exercises, while they ought 
to leave it to the priests. You, fair lady, may not 
know how wicked it is to desire a share in the 
priest's wine at the mass. This is almost as bad as, 
or perhaps still vv^orse, than using a knife on Pass- 
over without v/aiting for the rabbi's advice on how 
to cement its handle. 

Fraid. — I pity you. You are as the blind and 
as the deaf. You do not see God's work, and you 
do not hear His voice. I pity you. My husband 
takes life as a duty, to which he must give all his 
forces. My father, whom you charged with in- 
humanity, kept, at the risk of his life, wounded 
Hussite warriors in his house and nursed them 
until they were well. 

Jekuth. — Believe me, Fraidlin, it was not my 
intention to hurt your feelings. Your father was 
indeed a good, a noble man. It was his religion 
which stunted his humanity. 

Fraid. — I do not bear you any grudge. Knight 
Conrad, any more than I Would hate a blind man, 
who, ignorant of his affliction, curses the sun be- 
cause it does not shine. You were unfortunate in 
your home. I was blessed in mine. I knew my 
great-grandmother. She was more than four- 
score and ten when I learned to talk, and one day 
I noticed a bad scar on her wrinkled cheek. I 
asked her how she had received it and she told me 
the story. She was a little child when our people 



ISRAEL BRUNA 49 

were charged with having desecrated the host. 
Her Christian nurse saved her from the burning 
home, pretending that she was her own child. 
She then saw her own grandfather and grand- 
mother stand on the pyre and heard them sing 
until the smoke choked their voices. She heard 
them recite the benediction, giving thanks to God 
Almighty, who had privileged them to die for the 
glory of His holy name. I am a woman, and not 
learned, and cannot argue with you about what 
your heathens say, but I desire no more happiness 
than this good woman had in life and death, and 
I am ready like these ancestors of mine to thank 
God who has privileged me to die for the glory of 
His name. 

Jakuth. — Leave me alone with this great- 
grandmother talk, which might well be proof 
that Hera Was offended because she had not been 
given the beauty prize by Paris; it was the justifi- 
cation of your remoter ancestors when they sac- 
rificed innocent babes to their Moloch. What are 
the dead great-grandmothers to us ? Our life's 
instincts are the only divine commands. To your 
husband only duty binds you. Stern, cold, Jewish 
duty. You acquit yourself of this duty by pro- 
curing for him that freedom which otherwise he 
will never obtain. Answer honestly! No! Do 
not answer! I can read your answer in the fine 
lines of your face and in these deep, childlike eyes, 
which proclaim the privilege of human nature to 
follow its own behest! How could you ever love a 
man who is a walking code .? A man who married 
you because the law says he must take a wife ^ 



50 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Who will divorce you in the no distant future because 
the law says he must have children. 

Fraid. — Knight Konrad! Is this the vaunted 
etiquette of your order that allows you to touch the 
most sensitive spot in a woman's heart ? 

Jekuth. — How hard it is for a noble sentiment, 
Warped by soulless bigotry, to understand true 
sympathy ? What can a man be to you, whom you 
married because the law says you shall obey, and 
who married you because of the law. Law! 
Nothing but that absurd, immoral Law! If you 
would only listen to your best teacher! Your 
prophet said: the only true law is that which is 
written in your own heart. Follow its behest! 
Fraidlin! I have longed, I have suffered, I have 
brought what is the greatest sacrifice for a man of 
honor — I have sinned for you. Does your heart 
not respond to this appeal ? 

Fraid. — You are a traitor to my — to your 
people. 

Jekuth. — What is your people to you? Be 
yourself. Let your heart answer, and not your 
mouldy law. 

Fraid. — My heart has for the traitor of my 
people only hatred softened by — 

Jekuth. — Sympathy for the man. 

Fraid. — Softened by contempt for the fortune 
hunter. 

Jekuth. — Wife of the Rabbi! you shall repent 
of your words. My revenge shall be relentless, for 
it will be the law^ of my heart. 

Fraid. — Your threats have no terror for me. 
I do not desire any lot different from that of my 
people. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 51 

Jekuth. — Fraidlin! Your heart has not spoken. 
Your heart is asleep. I hear steps. Consider for 
three days before you decide! 

Fraid. — I have decided. (Exit.) 

Scene IV 
Fraidlin as before. Scholastica enters. 

ScHOLASTiCA. — Peace be unto this afflicted 
home. 

Fraid. — Peace is on your Kps and a double- 
edged sword is in your heart. 

ScHO. — Why so bitter ? I have come to offer 
you hope and peace. 

Fraid. — So did Knight Konrad. At least, he 
called it so. 

ScHO. — I do not know what brought him to you, 
but I came, driven by the love of Him for whose 
sake I left father and mother, for whose sake I 
abandoned all happiness of Woman, and who has 
given me His covenant of peace. 

Fraid. — May I ask you how I deserved your 
interest in my cause ? 

ScHO. — We are called to attend the suffering, no 
matter why they suffer. Our gates are open to the 
wounded highway robber, who reached them just 
in time to escape the grip of the sheriff. They 
are open to the fallen woman, from whom men and 
women turn with a shudder of disgust. We nurse 
the victims of battle though they may have raised 
their arms against Christ and His Church. 

Fraid. — I am not guilty of such a crime nor did 
I seek the protection of your convent; in fact, I was 
brought there very much against my will. 



52 ISRAEL BRUNA 

ScHO. — Indeed, you have not called me, but I 
came. I came, drawn by the ties of kinship. 
Like you, I have passed through the valley of 
Vv^eeping, but I have found rest at the foot of the 
Cross on which the Saviour shed His blood for all 
mankind, and for His people above all. 

Fraid. — Listen! What can your faith give me ? 
It has taken my husband. He is all I have in this 
world, for I have neither father, mother, nor child. 
I may yet share the fate of my people, and still you 
offer me as consolation the belief that the cause 
that brought all this suffering upon so many inno- 
cent people is the cause of truth and justice. 

ScHO. — Hard as it may appear, so it is. 

Fraid. — And you, in whose face I read the love 
of truth and goodness, believe that a rabbi, who 
teaches kindness to the dumb brute, would murder 
an innocent child? Oh, if you knew him! 

ScHO. — If I knew him! {correcting herself.) I 
certainly do not think ill of him, but I do not know 
all your practices; they differ in various lands. 
And while I shall not say that these charges are 
true, I must say that the God of justice has some 
plans, even when He permits injustice. 

Fraid. — It is a very convenient thing for the 
wicked to say that God will turn their wrongdoing 
to some good use. 

ScHO. — Your affliction excuses your bitterness. 
But do you not see that destructive floods will water 
the soil, and that killing frosts will stay the dread 
plague ? May it not be His plan, even by undeserved 
suffering, to show you the way of truth and make 
you look up to Him, whom you have pierced .? 



ISRAEL BRUNA 53 

Your husband is a man, learned in the law and 
beloved by his people. Might he not have been 
chosen to teach them the error of their v^ays ? Let 
him study his own scriptures and he will see that 
God sent His only begotten Son into the world, and 
if he opens the eyes of his flock to this great truth, 
then suffering will bring glorious fruit and your 
lives will be saved. 

Fraid. — You mean, sister, if I understand you 
right, that I shall persuade my husband to accept 
Christianity in order to save his life. 

ScHO. — Not in order to save his life; nor shall he 
profess the belief in the Son of God by word of 
mouth, but by conviction, arrived at after prayer- 
ful and earnest thinking. 

Fraid. — If you knew our people you would 
find it unreasonable to expect that the word of a wo- 
man could change the views of the learned rabbi. 

ScHO. — You may be the instrument chosen by 
God. 

Fraid. — And if I declined this call ? For I feel 
that the only weapon left to us in this battle against 
injustice is heroic suffering. I feel that your 
boasted mercy is hypocrisy, that your so-called 
battle for truth is but love of riches, craving for 
power, and a fiendish delight in acts of brutality 
hidden behind a pretence of humility ? 

ScHO. — You cannot decline, for you are a wo- 
man. You do not realize what your stubbornness 
and your blind submission to the customs of your 
people mean for your husband. He is on trial 
under the charge of murder and of sacrilege. 
Innocent or not, he will be severely questioned. 



54 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Fraid. — He will answer by telling the truth, and 
he has nothing to conceal. 

ScHO. — Maybe! I hope it for his sake. I be- 
lieve it for yours. But his judges cannot, dare not 
take his word for it. 

Fraid. — No witness, unless he is malicious, can 
testify to his guilt. 

ScHO. — You do not know what investigation in 
court means. Your husband v,ill be put through 
the first test. His hands will be tied behind his 
back, they will lift him up from the ground by a 
rope passing over a pulley and let him hang in this 
way; and if he will not confess they will fasten 
weights to his feet, increasing them every two 
minutes until he confesses. 

Fraid. {with a shudder). — He will not, for he 
has nothing to confess. 

ScHO. — If he does not confess he will faint from 
exhaustion. 

Fraid. — And then they will have to free him 
unless they murder him outright. 

ScHO. — You do not knov/ the world, sister, 
although you live in the world, as they say. They 
will put him through the second test. Do you 
know what this is ? They will tie him to a ladder, 
his head strapped tightly, so that he cannot move. 
Strong ropes will be tied around his arms and legs, 
and the executioner will tie the other end of the 
rope to his body and throw his full weight upon it. 
The rope will cut deep into his flesh, cut through 
skin, flesh, and muscles, sometimes — I have seen 
it for I have ministered to the poor wretches — 
breaking the bone. Take here the thread which 



ISRAEL BRUNA 55 

you use for sewing, tie it around your finger and 
pull the ends with your teeth as hard as you can, 
then imagine yourself lying naked on a ladder with 
sharp rungs penetrating your flesh, while you are 
unable to turn even your head to seek relief, a 
movement so natural to a sufferer, as you can see 
when standing by a sick bed. Listen! can you, a 
woman, think of your husband suffering such 
agony without even attempting to rescue him ? 

Fraid. — Oh, spare me, spare me, sister! What 
can I do ? What have I done to deserve such 
cruelty from you ? 

ScHO. — I cannot spare you, for you must know 
the truth, the full truth, in order to learn your duty. 
I must tell you all. If your husband shall 
survive this torture, there is something still worse 
waiting for him. He will be put on the rack, head 
dov/nward, and water from a wet rag will trickle 
down his throat, drop by drop. Small as it may 
seem in comparison with the physical suffering of 
the second degree, the sensation of choking, the 
sickness of the stomach, and the dizziness of the 
head are far worse than any other pain that can be 
inflicted on a human being. I have seen the most 
hardened criminals, who have gone through it, 
confess their crimes rather than go through this 
torture again. Can you love your husband if 
you refrain from attempting to do what alone can 
save him ? 

Fraid. — Sister, is this your religion of love ? 
The most ferocious brute does not revel in such 
devices to inflict misery upon its victim. 

ScHO. — The world has its laws. Our Church 



56 ISRAEL BRUNA 

does not shed blood or inflict pain, but she cannot 
stay the secular arm in doing what is necessary to 
punish evildoers and to prevent crime. 

Fraid. — Is there nothing to save my husband 
from this terrible fate ? 

ScHO. — Nothing, except v^hat I have told you, and 
you will do it. It is the advice of a sister, — of a 
real sister. As Abigail Pineiro I was known in the 
world. I am the daughter of an Italian banker. 
We are not brought up as you are here. I read 
Dante and Petrarch, played the guitar, and occa- 
sionally made a sonnet. In Padua, where my 
father had his business — 

Fraid. — Padua! That is the place where 
Rabbi Israel studied. 

ScHO. — Indeed, there are students there from 
all parts of the world. They came to our house to 
exchange their drafts, and often — I am grieved to 
confess it — tobororw money at high rates of interest. 
My father allowed me to converse freely with them, 
to read the poets, and to play music* When I had 
completed my sixteenth year, my father decided to 
marry me to a wealthy young man of our city. I 
refused, for — 

Fraid. — Your heart was set on one of your 
Christian friends. Your education had taught 
you to despise your people. 

ScHO. — You are mistaken. I loved a young 
man, a student at the house of the rabbi. I had 
hardly spoken to him. He, perhaps, did not even 
know me. I myself was not conscious of my love 
for him at that time. All I know was, that I would 
not be the wife of the man whom my father con- 
sidered rich enough to make a settlement upon me 



ISRAEL BRUNA 57 

equal to my marriage portion. I detested the man 
chosen for me, before I had ever spoken a word to 
him. 

Fraid. — And therefore you chose the convent ? 
ScHO. — No, sister. My heart was still set on the 
w^orld and its vain joys, and as my father was de- 
termined to break my will, I determined to elude 
him. I asked him to grant me a few days for 
deliberation and with the aid of a German student 
who often came to our house, I availed myself of the 
opportunity offered by Yom Kippur,* when I was 
alone in the house and fled to a village twenty miles 
from Padua, where I found refuge in a farmer's 
house. Money and jewelry I had taken along — 
Fraid. — On Yom Kippur you took money, 
which was your father's and drove in a wagon, 
trusting your honor to a young man who is not of 
our people .? 

ScHO. — I had not turned away from the Jewish 
faith yet. The young man who posed as my pro- 
tector told me that he would take me to his home 
in Germany, where I could live with my people, and 
where I could earn a livelihood by teaching our 
language and music. Soon, however, I discovered 
that he desired me for himself as men do who look 
upon woman as a toy to satisfy their fleeting passion. 
Fearing the danger, lest, shunned by me, he might 
betray my hiding-place to my father, and feeling 
that by my action I had forfeited forever the love 
of him whom I loved above all others, I went to the 
convent where I found peace of soul and where 
I buried my passion, though my love is still alive. 
*Day of Atonement. 



58 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Fraid. — And you never longed for father and 
mother, or for the sweetness of domestic Hfe ? 

ScHO. — You here are raised in a cage hke the 
poor songbirds who would not live in freedom, 
because they have unlearned the use of their wings. 
You pass from the father's hand to that of the 
husband, just as one of those birds would pass from 
one cage into another, and after fluttering around 
anxiously for a while begins its life over again, 
picking the seed from the new trough as if it never 
had known another. I was raised in freedom and 
would not give it up. 

Fraid. — And your present Hfe — forgive my 
frankness — has it more freedom than you enjoyed 
under your parental roof? 

ScHO. — I have chosen it. My life is of my own 
choosing and has a purpose, just as it would have 
had a purpose had I found the man I was longing 
for. 

Fraid. — And you renounced all happiness of 
woman for this man's sake ? 

ScHO. — I did. . . . And do you know who he 
was for whose sake I left parents, for whose sake 
I gave up all that is dear to a woman's heart, for 
whose sake I renounced life and renounced a pros- 
pect for which the companions of my youth envied 
me ? He was from this country. We called him 
Israel Tedesco. 

Fraid. — Sister Scholastica! 

ScHO. — He is Rabbi Israel Bruna now. If you 
love him as I did — as I do nov/, in spite of my vows, 
in spite of the fact that he is the husband of another 
woman, and in spite of my acquiescence in this 



ISRAEL BRUNA 59 

fact — you will do what is the only means of saving 
his life. I hear the shrieks of agony as he is placed 
on the rack; I see the executioner approaching him 
with hot iron and with burning sulphur to increase 
his pain. I see him gasp for breath, I see him 
faint, I see him slowly reviving to become more 
wretched than before. And you are sitting here 
quietly, enjoying life and health, while every bone 
in his body is aching — 

Fraid. — Sister, if you really loved him you 
would know him, and if you knew him you v/ould 
see that it is hopeless to expect that he would re- 
nounce his religion in order to save his life. 

ScHO. — But if you love him you v/ill do it. If 
you see the truth of that faith which the God of the 
Universe has endowed with the power to conquer 
the world, your conversion will be a source of grati- 
fication to the holy man whose whole life is given to 
the winning of souls. He will see in it a sign from 
heaven, encouraging him in his labors, and he may 
grant you the life of your husband. He will. I 
shall unite my efforts with yours. Come with me, 
sister; sister in flesh and sister in suffering! Be 
my sister in spirit! The Saint will speak to you. 
God has given him wonderful pov\^ers over human 
souls. The light of truth will appear to your be- 
dimmed eyes and you will save that life which 
ought to be so precious to you. Come, sister, 
come at once! 

Fraid. — Would I not lose him if I thus saved 
his life ? 

ScHO. — How selfish! To think of yourself 
when you ought to think of him and of nothing else. 

{Knock at the door.) 



6o ISRAEL BRUNA 

Scene V 
Enter Meinhard. Scholastica startled. 

Meinhard. — Has my appearance frightened 
you ? I hoped to find you here. I have been 
longing for this opportunity for years. 

ScHO. — I am here to minister to those who need 
me; others may not speak to me without the consent 
of my prioress. 

Mein. — And if I asked for a short interview on 
the ground of our former relationship ? 

ScHO. — It would be the same. My duty is 
defined by the laws of my order. 

Fraid. — The yoke of the law which you boast 
of having broken. 

ScHO. — Mock as you will. I have chosen and I 
have found my peace in the law of love. 

Fraid. — That love which permits you to sneak 
into peaceful homes and reward hospitality with 
slander, plots of murder, and destruction. 

Mein. — Forgive, good lady. Your reproach 
does not strike me. Konrad invited me to see a 
Jewish ceremony and a handsome woman. He 
kept his promise in both respects. The only part 
of the plot to which I had pledged myself Was to 
disappear when noise in the street would forebode 
trouble. 

Fraid. — And the corpse of the child ? 

Mein. — I knew nothing of its existence. I was 
told that it was necessary to carry a bundle in order 
that we may appear as strangers who had just 
arrived in the city. 

Fraid. — But now you know that this bundle 



ISRAEL BRUNA 6i 

was brought by your friend. Does not your honor 
require that you confess the truth and save the 
victims of tyranny ? I was told that this was the 
first duty to which a knight is pledged. 

Mein. — How noble you are, good lady, to think 
so highly of us! If I came before the tribunal and 
made such a confession they would say that I had 
been bought by the Jews, and my testimony would 
help you no more than your husband's protestations 
of innocence. 

Fraid. — Sister Scholastica, your religion teaches 
you to gather in the outcast, but forbids you to 
vindicate the innocent and to tell the truth when 
falsehood is advantageous to your schemes of power 
and wealth. 

Mein. — Fair lady, if your preachment is meant 
for me it is directed to the wrong person. I have 
no share in these ecclesiastical quibbles. My cup is 
not the cup of the Lord's Supper, but the cup of the 
convivial table. This world belongs not to the 
just, but to the powerful. Righteousness is with 
the strongest sword and the weak cause is always 
Wrong. 

ScHO. — You blaspheme! 

Mein. — Maybe! Some people call it so. But 
when I knew you as Abigail Pineiro you were not 
shocked by the reUgion which teaches that joy is 
goodness and the law of life the law of righteousness. 
ScHO. — It may have been through you that I 
learned to see in resignation true joy, and in doing 
good to others my highest duty. 

Mein. — Let us not spoil this opportunity with 
childish quarrels. The occasion is too serious and 



62 ISRAEL BRUNA 

too rare. It will, perhaps, never return. I know, 
I feel, that it cannot be your earnest desire to live 
this life of self-deception forever, Abigail. You 
despised me because you believed that I was 
trifling with your life and that I wanted to make 
you miserable for the sake of a frivolous pleasure. 
Perhaps you were right then, I misunderstood you, 
I misunderstood myself, I felt deeper than I knew. 
Since you took the veil I have not had a moment's 
rest. I accused myself of having destroyed your 
life. I say it here^in the presence of this afflicted 
woman. You take interest in her husband's lot. 
The pathos of love has touched your heart; the 
recollections of your youth have come back to you, 
for you plead again the cause of your people. 
You wish to see the rabbi free. Am I right ? 
ScHO. — You are. Why should I wish to conceal 

it ? r 

Mein. — You wish to help him. I shall assist 
you. 

Fraid. — Good Sir Knight! The Lord has 
shown you the way to our home. 

ScHO. — Do you plan an act of violence, Mein- 
hard, or do you expect to arm the enemies of our 
faith against the Saint ? 

Mein. — Leave your Saint alone! I have fol- 
lowed his army long enough to know something 
about his saintliness. 

ScHO. — Beware, Knight Meinhard! No one 
will put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, 
and be guiltless! 

Mein. — Don't worry, Abigail. He may go on 
and heal the lame and the blind, as far as I am 
concerned. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 63 

Fraid. — Oh, pray, pray tell me what I — what 
can be done to free my husband ? Shall I go to the 
priest ? 

Mein. — It would be of no avail. He knows no 
human feelings. But I can influence him. My 
father is the burgomaster and hates Capistrano. 
He hates that fanaticism which uses the Jews as 
scapegoats in order to cater to the low instincts 
of the rabble. He denounces the policy which 
drives them to usury, and then murders and robs 
them for that crime. 

Fraid. — Oh, you are the first Christian I met 
v/ho is just to our people. How often has my 
husband denounced the merciless usurers! 

Mein. — You may perhaps overestimate my 
love for Israel and my faith in their goodness, for I, 
or rather my father, paid dear for their readiness 
to help. Sister Scholastica would be able to tell 
you something about it, had her father allowed her 
some insight into his books. Two soldi for every 
scudo a week. I had to pay when I had spent my 
money before the next draft arrived, and sure 
enough, that happened each time. 

ScHO. — You know that I had no share in his 
business transactions. 

Mein. — I readily grant it, Abigail, but I loved you 
in spite of all that. I went to your father's bank, 
although Samson Monselice offered me a loan at 
one soldo. I went to your father because I wished to 
see you, and for your sake to-day I shall do my 
best to save the Rabbi. 

Fraid. — You spoke to me as a sister, give him a 
word of encouragement. 



64 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Mein. — My father stays the rebelHon. Some 
Councillors and many of the city people are for the 
Hussites. If my father will threaten to join them, 
should the disorder not be checked, Capistrano will 
release his victims. Your saint possesses some 
practical wisdom and does not always trust in his 
miracles. 

ScHO. — And you will advise your father to 
threaten brother John with such intentions ? 

Mein.— I will. 

ScHO. — And what part shall I play in this 
scheme ? 

Mein. — None whatever! You shall rend the 
veil which obscures your eyes. You shall open 
your heart and be what you have been. I shall con- 
ceal you safely with me for a few weeks and then 
you shall follow me to your sunny home. I shall 
go as ambassador to the Court of Naples. No one 
will know you there, and you will live the life of 
w^hich you dreamed when I first saw you. 

ScHO. — Knight Meinhard, you misjudge me. 
I shall preserve the peace of my soul, even at the 
cost of that life for which I would gladly lay down 
my own. 

Fraid. — O sister, did you not teach me to sink 
myself before him whom I love ? 

ScHO. — I cannot. I can give my Hfe, but not 
my soul. 

Mein. — Do you know Rabbi Israel ? 

ScHO. — I did know him when I was very young. 

Mein. — You were a woman then, and woman 
you remained even in your cloister. The law of 
your order is the law of your life. Abigail, I can 
understand you. 



ACT IV 

Scene I 

Chapel in the Franciscan convent. Scholastica, 
Capistrano. 

Scholastica {kneeling before the confessional). — 
Man of God, I accuse myself of sinful lust. I had 
hoped to deaden the flesh when I took the veil, and 
for years I thought that I had succeeded. But 
since I followed your host, desirous of living in the 
shadow of your sancity, and to minister unto the sick 
and the wounded of your army, the world has risen 
in me anew. 

Capistrano. — Did you implore the aid of the 
Holy Virgin, my daughter ? 

ScHO. — At night, when my thoughts troubled 
me, I slipped out of my cell into the church and 
knelt at the altar of the Mater Dolorosa. By the 
dim light of the oil lamp, which some pious 
Christian had placed before the picture, I noticed 
a stern look of rebuke in her eyes. 

Capis. — You must not be deterred by such a sign. 
It may be a mere delusion, produced by Satan, who 
troubles your soul. 

ScHO.— Holy man of God, it was not a delusion. 
I saw it as distinctly as I used to see the expression 
of pain, coupled with compassion, in the face of my 
mother when she rebuked me. I could see the 
frown on her forehead and the motion of her eyes 
as I can see the lines on your face now. 



66 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — Suppose it were so. Implore the aid 
of the Holy Virgin again, pray to her in earnestness 
and zeal. 

ScHO. — I did, night after night. I prayed to 
her, who had given up her Son to a death of igno- 
miny, because it was the will of the Father. I im- 
plored her to teach me to despise the world for the 
Son's sake. 

Capis.— And ? 

ScHO. — It came as a ray of benign light from 
her eyes, and, comforted, I returned to my cell. 

Capis. — Thou hast been deemed worthy of a 
sign of grace, my daughter. Did this sign ever 
repeat itself? 

ScHO. — It did not, and this makes me more 
miserable. It began Wednesday of the Passion 
week, just that night when the trouble arose with 
the Jews. The following night I v/as sorely 
tempted by the Evil One. I could hear the sweet 
tones of the lute, and I sav^^ myself on the hills 
around Lake Como. I saw the vintner's feast with 
dancing and singing girls. I sav7 my father at the 
table covered with dainties, and the brass candela- 
bra over it, making the room radiant with light. 
I saw my mother, dressed in white silk with a pearl 
necklace and a gold brooch at her neck. She held 
her arms open as she used to do when I was a child. 
Horrorstricken, I fled to the church and knelt be- 
fore the picture. But all that I saw was a stern 
look of reproach, and my mother passing between 
me and the Virgin, stretching out her arms, and 
since that night my peace has gone. 

Capis. — Thou hast forgotten the Saviour's 



ISRAEL BRUNA 67 

words : " I have no mother." It is Satan's old trick 
of tickhng the flesh. Didst thou chastise thy flesh ? 

ScHO. — I did, holy man of God. I fasted and 
lashed myself till the blood streamed dov n my 
back; and this morning, during the mass, I fainted 
from exhaustion, so that the mother superior for- 
bade me to continue my penance. 

Capis. — Hast thou voWed to continue this life 
of penance ? 

ScHO. — I have. 

Capis. — And thou wishest to be released of thy 
vows .? 

ScHO. — No, saintly father! I asked the mother 
superior to let me seek thy advice. Man of God, 
I have seen thee heal the blind and the lame. May 
I not say unto thee, even as the poor sinner said 
unto our glorious Saviour, "Help myunbehef ?" 

Capis. — Satan conjured up before thee the pic- 
tures of thy father and thy mother. Didst thou not 
see any other vision ? Conceal nothing from me, 
A little fact may help to show the crevice through 
which Satan enters thy soul. 

ScHO. — I conceal nothing, man of God. How 
could I, asking thy help ? 

Capis. — Have thy thoughts returned to a friend 
of thy youth, for whose sake thou hast sought refuge 
behind the sacred walls of the convent ? 

ScHO. — My father, thine eye penetrates into the 
innermost chambers of my heart, although, v. hen 
I chose the life of holiness it was not for man's sake. 
I had lost the faith of my fathers, and my heart 
panted for the real joy of life, v'hich neither music 
nor poetry nor the convivial table could give me. 



68 ISRAEL BRUNA 

I was disgusted with the selfishness of men, who 
recklessly sacrificed the lives of women to their 
crude, carnal pleasures, and therefore I resolved to 
live for others. 

Capis. — Examine thyself closely, my daughter. 
Were all the men whom thou hast met in the world 
so selfish as thou hast described them .? 

ScHO. — When a mere child, not being quite 
fifteen, I kne\v a man who was as near Christian 
perfection as any one of our people could come. 
He was always calm, desiring no earthly advantage 
for himself, and always willing to help others. He 
never had an unkind word even for Christians, 
who treated us not as Christ said we should treat 
our enemies. 

Capis. — Didst thou enter the monastery because 
he spurned thee ? 

ScHO. — He never knew of my affection, nor did 
I know" of it myself, until my father wanted me to 
marry another man. 

Capis. — What brought thy thoughts back to 
him at this time ? 

ScHO. — I learned that he was in danger and the 
desire has come over me, not to possess, but to 
help him. 

Capis. — Why is he in danger ? 

ScHO. — God has given thee the power to read 
men's souls. I would not conceal aught before 
thee. I am speaking of Rabbi Israel. 

Capis. {startled). — Israel ? That son of Belial .? 
Dost thou know that he is charged with the heinous 
crime of murder and blasphemy, that he crucified 
an innocent child in order to mock our belief in the 



ISRAEL BRUNA 69 

sacrifice of Jesus, who offered up His body in order 
that mankind shall be redeemed from sin ? 

ScHO. — Holy man of God, I owe thee my life. 
Thou hast shown me the path of truth, but in this 
case thou art mistaken. I do not.know whether 
Jews ever perpetrated such an abomination. 

Capis. — Is Satan beginning to lure thee back 
to the atrocious superstitions of thy youth ? 

ScHO. — Superstition. Let me confess it. I 
saw a great deal of it at home. They used to save 
a piece of their unleavened bread from Easter to 
Easter, saying that it was a protection against evil 
spirits. And sometimes I think that what I see 
about relics and sacred water is not different. 

Capis. — My daughter, my daughter! Satan has 
widened the crevice in thy heart and can enter it 
freely. 

ScHO. — My father. Help my unbelief, and I 
shall bhndly follow thy teachings for the Holy 
Virgin has chosen thee to open the eyes of the blind. 

Capis. {-flattered). — Apage, Satanas. {Making the 
sign of the cross.) Thou canst not win me over by 
flattery. How knowest thou ? 

ScHO. — When the Holy Virgin smiled on me in 
that one glorious night, her eyes turned in the di- 
rection of St. Francis's altar. I followed her, and 
in the midnight darkness of the church I could see 
thy figure loom up, and I saw St. Francis lifting up 
his hands to bless thee. 

Capis. — Art thou sure this was not a delusion ? 

ScHO. — My father, it was a vision, as clear as the 
appearance of the Holy Virgin. 

Capis. — And thou couldst testify to it before the 
bishop and the brothers of the convent r 



70 ISRAEL BRUNA 

ScHO. — I can and I will, as I hope that by the 
grace of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, and by the grace of the Holy Virgin, and the 
intercession of the saints, I shall enter the king- 
dom of heaven. 

Capis. — Thy faith is strong, my daughter, and I 
trust, that whatever Satan's wiles may be, they v, ill 
never entice thee away from the path of Christ. 

ScHO. — And mayest thou be my guide in all 
temptation, thou beloved disciple of thy master, 
St. Francis. But thou who knowest human 
hearts as no other man does, wilt know that I 
speak the truth when I declare that I never saw 
nor heard, in my Jewish life, of any law or custom 
demanding the sacrifice of Christian children. 

Capis. — They are shrewd, these sons of hell, 
and know how to hide their practices from those 
who might betray them. 

ScHO. — Even if they do practice such horrors, 
I am sure that this man Israel is incapable of doing 
so. I saw him plunge into a swollen stream, and, 
at the peril of his life, rescue a Christian child, 
that was being carried away by the flood. I saw 
him during the terrible plague carry food and 
water to the stricken houses which many Christians 
were afraid to approach. 

Capis. — If this man, while sitting in darkness, 
practises Christian virtues, may he not be brought 
into the full light of the truth ? Perhaps he is 
chosen to lift the veil from the eyes of his people. 

ScHO. — I spoke to his wife about it, but she 
would not listen. 

Capis. — Thou must not slacken in the service 



ISRAEL BRUNA 71 

of the Lord. It is the arch enemy, again, who 
whispers in thine ear that all thine efforts are bound 
to be futile. Perhaps thy doubts and thy torments 
are divinely ordained to help thee win a precious 
soul for Christ, who holds out His hand to a re- 
bellious people. 

ScHO. — Canst thou hold out no other hope ? 
Canst thou show me no ray of light ? Holy man 
of God, whom the Mother of God pointed out to 
me as the healer of my soul, canst thou offer no 
balm for my wound ? 

Capis. — God is merciful to sinners. He will 
let no soul perish that trusteth in Him. Offer 
Him the gift of thy heart. Ask the Virgin of per- 
petual help to give thee strength to do thy duty. 

ScHO. — My father, is there no hope for the 
innocent victim ? 

Capis. — The soul that sinneth will die, death 
temporal and eternal. 

Scene II 

Capistrano leaves the confessional suddenly. 
Meinhard and Fraidlin have shortly before en- 
tered the chapel and remained in the background. 
As Capistrano leaves the confessional, Meinhard 
advances. 

Meinhard. — My father, thou art wise as thou 
art pious and wilt not despise a word of warning 
when it comes from the humblest of thy children. 

Capis. — The wisdom of the world is strange to 
me. " I glory in the foolishness of God, which is 



72 ISRAEL BRUNA 

wiser than men." What you men of the sword 
and of the council offer as wisdom is to yield right 
before might. But whom bringest thou here ? 

Mein. — She is of Israel's benighted children, 
the wife of the man who faces death for murder 
and blasphemy. 

Capis. — The wife of the Rabbi, that arch-fiend, 
who tortured an innocent child to death ? If thou 
comest to offer money in ransom thou comest in 
vain. If thou hopest pardon, tell me what thou 
knowest; but the whole truth ! No subterfuges ! 

Fraid. — The whole truth ! Well then. As thou 
believest to obey the call of my master, my husband 
is innocent. 

Capis. — And in order to tell me this thou hast 
brought Knight Meinhard as witness. A suspicious 
witness indeed! One who was found in thy com- 
pany when the deed was committed; a Christian 
who forgot his obligations so far as to participate, 
and be it merely as a passive bystander in the feast 
of Satan. A son of our Holy Church who is not 
altogether free from the suspicion of heresy! 

Mein. — Father! This to me who has taken the 
cross and sworn to stamp out heresy ? 

Capis. — Just the same, there are wolves in the 
fold. Your father put stumbling-blocks in our 
way. He refused to let me try these wretches be- 
fore the ecclesiastic tribunal, wishing to prove 
from musty parchments that our tribunal, con- 
firmed by the Holy Father, is an encroachment on 
the privileges of the city. He has even sent mes- 
sengers to our gracious lord, the King, hoping to 
beguile his youth. But the heart of the King is in 



ISRAEL BRUNA 73 

the hand of God. I shall prove that your father 
favors heresy. He often allowed the heretics, in 
spite of the warning of the bishop, to indulge in 
their blasphemous feasts. The reputation of this 
good Christian city has been dragged in the mire 
through him, when he permitted these heretics 
to march behind the chalice. 

Mein. — My father has indeed not consented to 
my taking the cross, but you do him an injustice 
when you say that he favors the infidels. He 
merely is opposed to severe measures, which, he 
fears, will drive this city into the camp of the 
enemy, because many aldermen will side with the 
Hussites, and because your persecution of the Jews 
will bring their wealth to the assistance of the 
enemy. 

Capis. — Has not this ungodly Mammon already 
secured them assistance ? I know little of the 
world. Knight Meinhard, nor do I wish to be 
dragged into its unholy affairs. But some wit- 
nesses in this trial assert that there are nobles, 
connected with the most prominent families of this 
city who have mortgaged not only their estates and 
their jewelry, but even their very souls to the ene- 
mies of Christ. 

Mein. — My father, hovN^ you misjudge me! I 
would not deny it, and could not, for you are a 
Saint, as holy as any we invoke in the litany. 

Capis. {with feigned humility). — Apage Satanas! 
Do not tempt me, for I am but a mortal. Apage 
Satanas! {Makes the sign of the cross.) 

Mein. — Forgive me, father. But I may say 
that I am a sinner and my debts are the wages of 



74 ISRAEL BRUNA 

sin. Yet I owe nobody my soul. The man to 
whom I am indebted — But you care not for the 
things of this world. 

Capis. — If they help to strengthen the kingdom 
of God you may talk of them freely. 

Mein. — This is above the plain mind of the 
soldier. I should hate to offend you with worldly 
talk. 

Capis. — I shall not be offended unless your tale 
be one of your boastful stories of sin. 

Mein. — My father, God forbid that I should 
thus offend your ears. You wrongly suspect me of 
favoring the Jews for the sake of my creditors 
among them. Listen then; the man to whom I 
am indebted has given aid to the Hussites. Of 
me he takes in order to pile up wealth; to the 
Hussites he gives because he hates Christendom. 

Capis. — And you did not tell me of this story 
as soon as you learned of it ? 

Mein. — I feared to trouble thee, holy man of 
God, with affairs of this sinful world. 

Capis. — You are very delicate. Knight Meinhard. 
But tell me, is your creditor among the prisoners ? 

Mein. — He is at liberty, for he knows how to 
escape the watchfulness of men like you, my 
father, who are too inexperienced in the ways of the 
world. The aldermen are his debtors. 

Capis. — Inexperienced as I am in the affairs of 
this world, it would seem to me that these debtors 
should be glad to deliver him to the tribunal. 
Would you not think so. Knight Meinhard ? 

Mein. — Indeed thou art a man of God, for thou 
knowest not the wiles of this w^orld. If this Jew 



ISRAEL BRUNA 75 

be imprisoned and his property seized for the 
King's treasury, these debtors would have to pay 
to the King who would not be likely to show them 
any mercy, while the Jew, as matters stand now, 
has to make concessions. 

Capis. — And the Jew ? 

Mein. — He saves himself for the time being. 
As to the future he counts on the Hussites, whose 
new Fort Tabor was built with money extorted 
from the Catholics. 

Capis. — Are you sure that your desire to get 
rid of debt is not at the bottom of these charges ^ 
The Church will not tolerate the machinations of 
her enemies, but she will not serve as a tool of those 
who, by a pretence of serving her, wish to escape 
the consequences of a life of libertinism. 

Mein. — How you misjudge me, man of God, to 
whom I looked up as the model of justice and 
charity! 

Capis. {murmuring). — Apage Satanas. Holy 
St. Francis, banish from my thoughts vanity and 
evil inclinations. (Crosses himself — aloud.) Wife 
of the Rabbi, what knowest thou of thy people's 
alliance with the enemies of the Church ? 

Fraid. — I know nothing of what passes in the 
world, outside of our quarter. My father taught 
me to honor those whom God has placed in author- 
ity, and not to rebel against them, though their 
rule be harsh. 

Capis. — Thou puttest thy words wisely indeed, 
and showest good judgment. What is thy name, 
my daughter ? 

Fraid. — They call me FraidHn, father. 



76 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — Fraidlin. This means joy in your 
language. Is it not so r 

Mein. — Indeed it is v/onderful hovv^ v/ell thou 
hast learned to understand the barbarous sounds 
of our northern tongue. This is surely the work 
of the Holy Ghost, who has chosen thee for thy 
great mission. 

Capis. {murmuring). — Apage Satanas. Fortify 
me, St. Francis, against temptations and vanity. 
(Crosses himself; turning to Fraidlin.) Does thy 
husband teach as thy father did ? 

Fraid. — Certainly he does. And he said it 
recently in my hearing to Pethahiah, the elder of 
our community. 

Capis. — This Pethahiah, who offered the council 
a large sum to defray the cost of my sojourn! He 
and thy husband are very close friends, I under- 
stand. 

Fraid. — Thou art misinformed, father, Petha- 
hiah is not my husband's friend. 

Mein. — Even I could have told you that, little 
as I know about the spiritual affairs of Israel's 
community. 

Capis. — And how did you learn of it .? 

Mein. — Everybody knows that Pethahiah re- 
fused to contribute anything to the cost of the 
rabbi's trial. 

Capis. — The man loves Mammon. 

Mein. — It is not this alone, for in such a case 
the Jew considers it a meritorious piece of work to 
help his brother-Jew. But Pethahiah's only son 
became a Christian and the Rabbi is said to have 
preached that this was a divine punishment for 



ISRAEL BRUNA ^^ 

Pethahiah's sins, who brought the ill-will of the 
Christians on the Jews by his heartless usury. 

Capis. — Is this true, Fraidlin ? 

Fraid. — Not quite, father. My husband would 
not easily reprove a sinner publicly, but he told 
Pethahiah so in our oWn house on the day of our 
misfortune. 

Capis. — And is it true that Pethahiah refused 
to contribute to thy husband's release ? 

Fraid. — This is true. 

Capis. — And this heartless moneybag, who is 
dead to the entreaties of his own people, is also 
a traitor to our gracious King, and a supporter of 
his enemies and those of our Holy Mother Church! 
Is this so, Fraidlin ? 

Fraid. — We women of Israel care not about the 
men's business. I know not whether he desires 
your victory or the victory of those who march 
behind the chalice. 

Capis. — This is their old trick of playing the 
innocent, just as their spies had instructed Rahab. 
Oh, generation of vipers! 

ScHO. — Man of God, she speaks the truth. 
The women of Israel are never consulted in affairs 
of the community. They are the housekeepers 
and bearers of children. 

Capis. {to Fraidlin). — Have your people not 
met Prokop, the priest who desecrated his orders 
when he returned from one of his highway rob- 
beries which he calls battles ? Did they not 
furnish him bread and wine ? 

Fraid. — I do not know. Father Johannes. 

Capis. — Do not call me father. Call me 



78 ISRAEL BRUNA 

brother, for I mean well with thee. Did not this 
man Pethahiah expostulate with thy husband for 
approving of your people's attitude. 

Fraid. — No, brother Johannes. Pethahiah 
wished these people to be punished and Rabbi 
Israel said we should not be too severe with any one 
w^ho did wrong. He never advised anything against 
our King's will. 

Capis. — I am glad to hear it, for thy voice has 
the ring of truth. 

Mein. — The Rabbi is innocent of any plot. His 
life is turned away from the affairs of the world. 

Capis. — Why are you so eager to plead his 
cause, Knight Meinhard ? Will he make that old 
Pethahiah release his grip on you ? 

Mein. — I broke bread at his house. I came 
as a stranger and he bade me welcome and seated 
me at his table. It was the night when he v/as 
arrested. I Vvould not wish harm to befall him 
through me. 

Capis. — Through you! You mean through his 
devilish sacrifices in which you participated. 
Those services of Satan bewitched you. 

Mein. — Curiosity brought me there, but I am 
sure the man never committed a crime. Let 
Sister Scholastica answer. 

ScHO. — The Knight speaks the truth. Rabbi 
Israel walks in darkness, but he is incapable of 
murder. 

Capis. — So you said before. But if the man is so 
saintly he \\ ill see the error of his v ays and find his 
salvation here and hereafter, 

Mein. — How I v, ould like to possess your holy 



ISRAEL BRUNA 79 

zeal, to feel that I am an instrument chosen by the 
Holy Ghost. 

Capis. (crossing himself), — Apage Satanas! It 
may have been under the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost that you, Knight Meinhard, participated in 
the feast of Satan. 

Mein. — How reUeved I feel, my father. But 
while I am willing to lend my arm to the cross, my 
tongue is weak, and my mind not equipped with 
the learning necessary to evade the tricks of Satan's 
arguments. 

Capis. — I shall not put your faith to such a test. 
Knight Meinhard, since Satan has such power 
over you, but thou, Fraidlin, wouldst certainly 
desire to see thy husband. It is against the law 
that any one who is under trial for life receive 
visitors. I hope, however, that the judges will 
yield to my request and allow thee to see thy 
consort. 

Fraid. — Thou art good, brother Johannes. 
May the Lord reward thee! 

Capis. — And thou art willing to tell thy husband 
that by walking in the path of truth and by leading 
his people in this path, he will find mercy in the 
eyes of God and man. Thou understandest ? 

Fraid. — I do, brother Johannes, but — 

Capis. — No " but," when God calls. 

Fraid. — It will be useless. The women of 
Israel look to the men for advice. 

Capis. — Fortitude, my daughter, is necessary 
in doing God's work. The disciples of the Master 
were flogged and stoned and crucified, but they 
wavered not. Your scribes and priests persecuted 



8o ISRAEL BRUNA 

them, but the Church is built upon an adamantine 
rock. Everywhere, from the rising of the sun to 
the going down thereof is the true God worshipped, 
and a clean offering. Look at your people. Every- 
where they are downtrodden, despised, and op- 
pressed. Like Cain are they hunted from place 
to place. 

Fraid. — He knows it, father. But he told me 
it was a test of our faith, and that we may truly 
say, " All this has come upon us, yet have we not 
forgotten thee." 

Capis. — And were his heart hardened as thou 
sayest, canst thou not behold the manifestations of 
Christ and proclaim His kingdom. For thee 
great things may be in store. With us, the women 
are not dumb handmaids, thou mayest yet have a 
place befitting thy nobleness of spirit and grace of 
manner. Many a noble would be happy to pro- 
claim thee his consort, and give thee a place among 
princes. 

Fraid. — Is this your advice, brother Johannes ? 
That I shall forsake my husband and betray the 
fidelity which is sacred among Jews as well as 
heathen ? 

Capis. — To infidels we owe no obligation. 

Fraid. — Well, then, let me answer briefly and 
distinctly. I Vvill not do it, and I would not if I 
could. Rather than save my husband's life through 
falsehood I would see him perish under all the 
tortures that Sister Scholastica so vividly por- 
trayed. Rather than save myself by betraying 
him, I shall die with him and consider myself happy 
to share his fate. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 8i 

ScHO. — My sister, thou knowest not what thou 
speakest. Consider thy words. 

Mein. — Give her time, my father. The Church 
is long-suffering and merciful. 

Fraid. — I demand no time from those who teach 
adultery and plan murder. 

Capis. — Well, then, thou shalt have what thou 
desirest. {Opens the door and calls a guard.) Take 
this woman into custody, and know thou, the door 
of thy prison shall not be opened until thou ex- 
pressest the desire to profess Christ : for thou art as 
guilty as thy husband. 

Fraid. — Innocent as he i^! 

ScHO. — Have mercy, man of God! 

Capis. — No mercy for the sinners. 

Fraidlin taken away by the guard. 



ACT V 

Scene I 

Court of the Inquisition. Capistrano presiding 
over the tribunal. Prelates, knights, clerks, armed 
guards. Israel. 

Capis. — Israel, you may still receive the grace 
of a merciful God if you confess your guilt which 
is clearly proven. Turn to Him, whom you 
pierced, as did your fathers. 

Israel. — I cannot confess what I have not done. 

Capis. {to executioner). — Question him accord- 
ing to the ordinances. 

(Israel taken to the torture chamber. Groans 
are heard.) 

Scene II 
Pethahiah is brought in. 

Capis. — You son of hell, have you aided the 
enemies of our gracious lord, the King, and of our 
holy mother Church ? 

Peth. — Oh, you holy and wise man, whose 
wisdom is like the wisdom of Solomon, you cer- 
tainly must see that this charge is a machination 
of my enemies. All the members of the council of 
our city, may the Lord increase their glory, will 
testify that when I heard of thy coming I offered 
a hundred shock groschen to celebrate this glorious 
event, because, while not of thy faith — 



ISRAEL BRUNA . 83 

Capis. — : Thou hadst sense enough to know that 
thy sins shall be visited on thee. 

Peth. — Our God gives wisdom to those who are 
not of our faith, and power to those who are placed 
on the thrones. Ask the governor how I, in these 
bad times, gave three thousand pounds at only 
three deniers a week to aid our glorious King in the 
war against his accursed enemies, and now, al- 
though I have lost heavily, I — 

Capis. — A little later. Don't be too hasty. 
And then answer directly. Didst thou give money 
to that rebel against God and His anointed ? Didst 
thou give money to Prokop ? 

Peth. — Prokop ? I do not know him. I never 
laid an eye on him. I would not allow him to pass 
the threshold of my house. An enemy of the 
King is my enemy, and sooner would I — 

Capis. — Be not so profuse and answer directly. 
{Takes a small piece of parchment from the table.) 
Dost thou know this bond of Prokop ? 

Peth. — No, holy man, I never saw it. How 
could I ? 

Capis. — Quiet! How could this have been 
found in a hole in the wall of thy house, covered 
carefully by boards, behind a wardrobe ? 

Peth. — Oh, holy man, this was exacted from me 
by violence. Six armed men entered my house 
at night and placing the points of their daggers 
over my heart, demanded that I give them fifty 
schock. It was life or death, and so I had to give 
it to them, and the bond I hid in a place where I 
would never lay an eye on it again. I would have 
reported it to the king's sheriff, but I feared their 
revenge. 



84 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — These wicked people, these highway- 
men! 

Peth. — So they are indeed, my father. How 
truly thou hast spoken. 

Capis. — There is only one thing I would like 
to have explained. 

Peth. — Ask, holy man, father of mercy, man of 
justice, ask! Thy servant shall answer thee 
according to the full truth. 

Capis. — What about the interest of four pennies 
for the shock ? Did they also force thee, at the 
dagger's point, to accept it ? 

Peth. {stutters). — Four pennies, Prokop, — they 
— given to me. I never, never demand such a sum. 
They mocked me by writing it. Thou seest it, for 
thy wisdom is given to thee by — 

Capis. — Thou never hast demanded such a 
sum ? 

Peth.— God forbid! The letters-patent of the 
king allow three deniers and this is my limit. I 
obey the King, for the King is put in authority by 
God himself, and I fear — 



Scene III 
Meinhard enters. 

Capis. — This is good; but {taking up another 
parchment) this bond of Knight Meinhard's stipu- 
lates five deniers on the shock. Was this also 
written in jest ? 

Peth. {embarrassed). — These young people are 
reckless. They never pay, and one is happy if they 



ISRAEL BRUNA 85 

pay the Interest for two years. Afterwards, ac- 
cording to the law of our gracious King, — may his 
throne be exalted! — one must wait one year and 
one day before the pledge can be sold, and often 
it happens that the pledge is found to be stolen. 

Mein. — You accursed son of the devil. 

Peth. — O forgive, noble knight, I am not 
speaking of you, for your honor is as free from any 
spot as the white robe of the high priest. But you 
see there are some, even among the knighthood, 
vs ho take advantage of the kindheartedness of an old 
man and bring him a pledge which is not their own, 
and then, having lost the interest for a year one has 
to return it for the sum lent on it. 

Capis. — This does not seem so bad when your 
capital has become doubled in the mean time. 

Peth. — But consider our taxes, holy man! To 
the King, to the city, and to the canon of the cathe- 
dral! 

Capis. — I do not wish to meddle with the busi- 
ness of the authorities, and thou obeyest their laws ? 

Peth. — With joy in heart! 

Capis. — I wish to know whether this interest 
stipulated in the bond of Prokop was stipulated 
in jest. 

Peth. (gaitiing confide?2ce). — Most assuredly, 
holy man. How could it be otherwise ? 

Capis. (taking another parchment). — How about 
this letter of George Podiebrad, the arch-rebel, 
who is plotting to overthrow the throne of our gra- 
cious lord. King Ladislaus ? 

Peth. — I never received such a letter. I can 
swear to it by our holy Torah. It is the law of our 
kings from times immemorial to respect our oath. 



86 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — There is no need for such an oath. I 
know that the letter was not received by thee be- 
cause the messenger was intercepted by our soldiers. 

Peth. — I assure thee, holy man, I should have 
torn the letter to shreds, and handed the messenger 
over to the king's sheriff. 

Capis. — Good and noble! But listen what the 
letter says. George Podiebrad recommends to thee 
Ziska, the rebel captain. He will be surety for any 
sum that you may lend to him, and in addition, 
when he shall be king — listen, Pethahiah — you 
shall have exclusive banking privileges in this city 
and freedom of business in all royal cities. 

Peth. — I ? To break my fealty to my lord the 
King? Never! Not for all the treasures of King 
Solomon! 

Capis. — Good and noble Pethahiah! But I 
did not read one line at the end. Podiebrad says 
he is sure that thou wilt serve him this time as 
faithfully as before and that thou wilt help Ziska 
as thou didst help Prokop. 

Peth. {stammering). — It is not true. It is a 
lie. It is a plot to ruin me. I never saw Podie- 
brad. I never even heard of Ziska. A plot and 
invention of my enemies. 

Capis. — How the righteous are persecuted! 
The bond of Prokop — jest. The letter of Podie- 
brad — a plot. And the murder of that poor boy — 
another plot of your enemies. Your agreement 
with the Rabbi that you V70uld kill the child and he 
Vvould take charge of the blood, jest again. The 
R.abbi confessed! Dost thou hear ? That confes- 
sion — all jest! Jest, of course, jest! 



ISRAEL BRUNA 87 

Peth. — Confessed! He! 

Capis. — Wilt thou come out with thy confes- 
sion before they put the question to thee more 
distinctly ? As distinctly as they put it to him ? 

Peth. — He confessed ! The Ra bbi ! Confessed ! 
Indeed! 

Capis. — Thou wishest to confess too ? 

Peth. — I have nothing to confess, holy man. 
He did it all by himself. I learned it only after- 
wards, and had it not been for our holydays, I 
should have told the authorities. I should surely 
have reported it the day afterwards, had the ter- 
rible deed not been discovered. Oh, how miser- 
able I was all the day! How my heart was 
broken. 

Capis. {to the guard). — Bring the Rabbi. 

Scene IV 
Israel earned in, bleeding and exhausted. 

Capis. — Listen, thou servant of the evil one. 
Thy partner has confessed, but he puts the blame 
on thee alone. 

Israel. — He is as innocent as I am. 

Capis. — Oh, I know your tricks taught by your 
accursed Talmud. In vain have the holy fathers 
tried to free you from the snares of Satan. 

Israel. — I am not wont to speak in equivoca- 
tions. Pethahiah has no share in the crime. 

Capis. — So thou didst it all by thyself ? 

Peth. — Did I not say so, holy man ? My 
enemy has cleared me. Thy wisdom has pene- 
trated into his heart, and as I love and admire thee, 



88 ISRAEL BRUNA 

I shall give thee the mortgage on Knight Meinhard's 
property that thou mayest build on it a church 
in honor of St. Francis, who must have been a great 
and good man to have such wise and kind disciples. 

Capis. — Is this perhaps jest also ? 

Peth. — How would I dare to jest with such a 
great man ? 

Capis. — This is really a generous offer. We 
shall see. Our saint shall have a sanctuary in this 
city. I thought of it myself, and your synagogue 
seems to me to be as good a place as any. 

Peth. {frightened). — Our synagogue \ 

Capis. — Be so good as not to interrupt me. I 
have to deal with this sinner. Israel, didst thou 
kill that child, pricking him with needles, nailing 
him to the cross, pressing a crown of thorns on his 
forehead, and finally piercing his side ? Make a 
full confession and God will be merciful. 

Israel. — As I hope in God's mercy, I did not 
do it, nor did Pethahiah, nor did any of our people 
ever commit such a crime. 

Capis. — Pethahiah, thou hast said that the Rabbi 
had done what he now denies. Dost still insist 
that thou hast told the truth ? 

Peth. {embarrassed). — I — I said he said — 

Capis. — Clearly please, yes or no, unless we 
shall question thee more distinctly. 

Peth. — Yes, holy man, I said it. 

Capis. — This means that this fiendish deed is 
part of your accursed superstition and is done 
every year. Hast thou ever done it before ? 

Peth. — I ? Never! God forbid that I shed 
innocent blood, the blood of Christians who are 
my — 



ISRAEL BRUNA 89 

Capis. — Not so much eloquence, please. If 
thou hast never done it before, v/ast thou not sur- 
prised when the Rabbi told thee what he had done. 

Peth. — Why dost thou ask me ? 

Capis. — Answer directly. 

Peth. — I — I do not know. 

Capis. — How thy memory fails thee. We will 
help thee to remember. (T^ ^he guards.) Torture 
him! 

Peth. — Listen, holy man, be not so hasty, for 
thou art wise and the wise man does not judge 
hastily. I shall confess everything. I was present, 
but I did not do anything. Jekel, the Rabbi's 
servant, gagged the boy, the Rabbi said the prayer, 
and the scholars pricked the child with needles. 

Capis. — The scholars ? What are their names ? 

Peth. — Names! I do not know, I forgot. 
They were strangers. 

Capis. — Thy memory is beginning to fail again. 
We — 

Peth. — Oh, I remember now. They were 
Hayim of Neustadt, and Aaron of — of — I be- 
lieve from Franconia, Wuerzburg, if I remember 
right. 

Capis. — Take thy time. I see thou beginnest 
to remember. 

Scene V 
Jekuthiel enters during the last words. 

Jekuth. — Thou liest, old sinner. Believe him 
not, brother Johannes. He lies for the sake of his 
ill-gotten Mammon. 



90 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Peth. {collapsing). — My sins have visited me. 
My own flesh and blood rises up against me. 

Capis. — What sayest thou t 

Peth. — I did not see anything. I am old and 
sick, and I feared the rack. 

Capis. — Jest again! Let us see! He will 
get his memory back. 

Capis {to the guard). — Give him the first test. 
Bring me Pasquale. {A strongs burly executioner 
enters.) Here is work for thee, my son. We have 
a hardened sinner. Tie him to the ladder and 
throw thyself with thy full weight against the rope. 
Never mind if his old bones crack. He has 
money enough to pay. Bring the boy. 

(Pasquale grins. Pethahiah howls as he is 
dragged out.) 

Scene VI 
Enter Jekel. 

Capis. — Thou dost know of what thou art 
accused. Didst thou do it ? 

Jekel. — I tried to but they would not let me. 

Capis. — What didst thou try ? 

Jekel. — To angle trout in the White Brook. 

Capis — Do not trifle here, thou son of the devil. 
Didst thou gag the boy ? 

Jekel. — I had no chance. They grabbed me 
from behind and had me on the ground before 
I knew that any one was present. 

Capis. — And then ? 

Jekel. — Four others came. 

Capis. — Who are they. 

Jekel. — I did not know all of them, only An- 
thony, the miller's, and Ulric, the swordmaker's son. 



ISRAEL BRUNA 91 

Capis. — What ! Christians ! 

Jekel. — What else do you think ? A Jew 
would not do such things. 

Capis. — Do not play the innocent. What didst 
thou get for thy work ? 

Jekel. — Get ? Work ? What I got ? Beaten 
I got, and my waistcoat was torn. A new one at 
that, or rather it was an old one, but I had received 
it that very day from Eva, Phineas the hideseller's 
wife. 

Mein. — Brother Johannes, you are wasting your 
skill. Cannot you see that the poor fellow is an 
imbecile ? 

Capis. — Knight Meinhard, you are singularly 
eager to defend the Jews. 

Mein. — I cannot bear injustice, and though its 
victim is a Jew. This old sinner, Pethahiah, richly 
deserved his fate, though what he told here is not 
true. That child was dead when it was brought to 
the Rabbi's house, and all the wounds were inflicted 
on a corpse. Master Eberlein, the surgeon, will 
prove it to you. 

Capis. — These Jews with their Mammon can 
prove anything. Their ancestors bribed the guards 
to testify that the Master's body Was stolen, and 
that he never rose from the tomb. 

Scene VII 

ScHOLASTiCA enters. 

ScHO. {pointing to Israel, zuho is lying on the 
ground). — Holy man of God! As my Redeemer 
liveth, I know that this man is innocent. Why 



92 ISRAEL BRUNA 

should the glory of Christ be bought with the'^^blood 
of the innocent ? The Lord has chosen thee to do 
marvelous things in His name. Forfeit not thy 
eternal bliss by judging rashly. 

Scene VIII 

Pethahiah is carried in. He has fainted and 
lies with closed eyesy unable to speak. 

Capis. — Has he confessed ? 

Executioner. — He has repeated all his former 
statements, and added that he gave money to buy 
the boy from wayfaring people who had stolen him 
from a farmer in Bohemia. 

Capis. — This trial was conducted with all that 
justice and lenience which has always graced the 
Church of God. We shall not pronounce the 
sentence of guilt until the culprits shall have been 
given every chance of exculpating themselves. 
{To Israel.) Dost thou still persist in denying 
thy crime ? Remember that God is merciful to the 
sinner who repenteth. 

Israel. — Brother Johannes, my body is broken. 
I have not many hours to live, even if you let me 
run my course, and in the presence of God, who is 
my maker and yours, and before Vvhom I shall soon 
appear, I declare that I am innocent of the death of 
this child, and so are all the others whom you con- 
demn, even this poor sinner, Pethahiah, who in his 
desire to save his wretched life turned witness 
against himself. 

(Pethahiah tries to raise himself and grasp the 
Rabbi's hand.) 



ISRAEL BRUNA 93 

Capis. — Their hardness of heart has never left 
these people, whom God has rejected because of 
their ingratitude. They shall go to the place where 
there is howling and gnashing of teeth. But they 
shall not be condemned before all means of mercy 
shall have been exhausted. Does any one present 
know of anything in favor of these accused, which 
has been overlooked in their just and impartial trial ? 

Jekuth. — Holy man of God, this woman {point- 
ing to Fraidlin) v/as maliciously accused by a 
self-confessed traitor and slanderer. I swear it by 
my honor as a Knight of the Cross. My duty as a 
champion of woman's honor forbids me to say 
more, but as this sword has been blessed by thee 
for the defense of our holy faith, she is innocent. 

Capis. — We shall take your word, Knight Con- 
rad, if she profess Jesus, the Saviour, in whose honor 
you have vowed to wield the sword. Jesus shall 
make thee free, my daughter, free, body and soul. 
My daughter, come and give glory to His name. 

Fraid. — I thank thee, brother Johannes, and I 
forgive Knight Konrad, and all those who have 
wronged me and brought this misery upon me and 
my people, but I desire no better lot for myself than 
that of my people, who die the death of the righteous. 

ScHO. — Brother Johannes, I have left my kin, 
have abandoned home, father, and mother, and a 
life of comfort and pleasure in order to serve Him 
who innocently died an ignominious death. But 
He forgave His offenders, while you sacrifice to Him 
innocent victims, as if He were the idol of the 
heathens. Think, before you give the hangman 
your orders! 



94 ISRAEL BRUNA 

Capis. — Sister Scholastica! Hast thou for- 
gotten the words of the Master, " I have no mother, 
and I have no brothers " ? Cast off this false 
mercy! For those who sin against the Holy Ghost 
there shall be no mercy! 

Israel {rising with difficulty). — Mercy we ex- 
pect from God alone, who is a God of justice. 
But from those who desecrate His name by the 
testimony of falsehood we desire no mercy. Their 
mercy is a disgrace, as the Holy Scripture says: 
{To Pethahiah, who turns to him with outstretched 
hand) I forgive thee with all my heart, and the God 
of Israel, who is long-suffering, will forgive thee, 
when thou sayest with all thy heart, " May my 
death be an atonement for all my sins." 

(Pethahiah whispers it, and the other Jews repeat 
It aloud.) 

ScHO. — Oh, how blind I was to be misled by 
empty words. Away with a creed which is a mere 
babble of the lips; Jesus prayed for His enemies on 
the Cross. You have made the innocent de- 
scendants of His enemies pay a thousand times and 
more for the sin which He forgave. Theirs is a 
martyrdom more glorious than His. Rabbi Israel, 
I have looked up to you from my childhood as to a 
guide in life. I shall be with you in death. Curse 
{pointing to Capistrano) upon murderers ! Fiends ! 
Wild beasts who desecrate God's holy name by 
acts of brutality. '* May my death be an atone- 
ment for all my sins." 

{Loud.) 

Make room on the faggot, hangman! Holy 
father Johannes Capistrano! Vain, earthly glory 



ISRAEL BRUNA 95 

is thy piety! Bloodthirsty and cruel is thy pre- 
tended zeal for God! Thy God is the God of 
falsehood. I shall profess the God of Truth. 
Rabbi Israel, teach me the prayer of martyrs, and 
let us all join in it, grateful to the God of Israel for 
our martyr lot. 

(The hangman leads them to the faggot that is 
looming in the background. The hymn is heard, 
the voices grow weaker and finally cease.) 



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